276 - Evaluation of a Social Influencers of Health and Advocacy Pre-Orientation Experience for Pediatric Residents

Poster Number: 276
Publication Number: 276.420

Abigail Whitney, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Erin E. Von Klein, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Brooke K. Pfister, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Lindsey Arenberg, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Nina L. Alfieri, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Oak Park, IL, United States; Mariana Glusman, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Karen Mangold, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital/Feinberg School of Medicine/Northwestern, Chicago, IL, United States; Sharon Unti, Northwestern University The Feinberg School of Medicine, Park Ridge, IL, United States; Karen Sheehan, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States

Background: Graduate medical education has recognized the importance of equipping physicians to address social influencers of health (SIH). Because of variable training on SIH at the undergraduate medical level, pediatric first year residents have differing capacities to address SIH as they enter residency. Dedicated curricular interventions have demonstrated effectiveness at the medical school level in improving trainee ability to identify SIH, though such programs do not appear to have been implemented to the same degree in residency programs to date.

Objective: The goal of this study was to evaluate the baseline self-efficacy regarding SIH and advocacy of incoming pediatric residents and to assess the feasibility and value of a pre-orientation program to increase knowledge and comfort surrounding these topics.

Design/Methods: Participants enrolled in the study were incoming pediatric residents at a large tertiary-care children’s hospital in Chicago. Employing Thomas, Kern, Hughes and Chen’s six-step approach, a targeted needs assessment was conducted to understand the baseline competence of incoming residents to address SIH and engage in advocacy. Using these results, a two-day optional pre-orientation program was developed to expose the incoming residents to major SIH in the community through 8 lectures/seminars and 2 unique volunteer experiences with community partners. The orientation took place in June 2021. A program evaluation survey was distributed to the incoming residents afterward.   

Results: Participants indicated a varying degree of prior training in medical school and comfort regarding SIH and advocacy (Figure 1). All indicated they want to learn more about SIH during residency (n=26/26) and most indicated a desire to learn more about advocacy (96.2%, n=25/26). Despite the pre-orientation program being marketed as optional and unpaid, 25 residents participated in one or both days of the optional pre-orientation program (a 73.5% participation rate). Participants scored the program highly in multiple domains including overall value and acquired knowledge regarding community-specific SIH (Table 1). 100% said they would recommend the experience (n=23/23).Conclusion(s): Incoming pediatric residents enter residency with a varying degree of prior training and comfort in assessing SIH and are eager to learn more about SIH and advocacy in their residency training. An immersive pre-orientation program is a valuable avenue to expose residents to SIH in their community and equip them with knowledge and resources to address SIH from the very beginning of their new careers as physicians and child advocates.
Figure 1Needs assessment on advocacy and SIH (n=26)
Table 1Evaluation of program value and efficacy by participants (n=23)