2023 Department of Pediatrics Academic Annual Report

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Thursday Thoughts This open forum, held monthly on the first Thursday, allows for an open dialogue on issues such as systemic racism, health disparities, and current events and their impact on our department, patients and other children and families in Alabama. It is open to all members of the department and facilitated by different members of the IDEAA Council.

Diversity Newsletter & FYI Friday Spotlights We continue to have a DEI section in the FYI Friday weekly newsletter to share DEI celebrations and awareness events and local and national training opportunities. We also continue to have regular features from faculty, trainees and staff in the FYI Friday weekly newsletter. Diversity and Inclusion Microlearning Experiences (DIME) We continue to share best practices to foster diversity and inclusion and promote health equity, by providing a microlearning curriculum for faculty, consisting of 10-minute educational presentations at regular faculty meetings. These experiences are also summarized in FYI Fridays with accompanying resources and in the resident newsletter to further enhance dissemination. Health Equity Scholars Program The Health Equity Scholars Program completed its second year in 2023. The program was initially developed by Drs. Chrystal Rutledge, Morissa Ladinsky and Tina Simpson. With Dr. Simpson’s departure from UAB, Dr. Madhura Hallman joined the faculty leadership in the fall of 2022. The aim of the program is to train pediatric and combined pediatric residents to lead advances in child health equity through a three-year longitudinal and experiential curriculum. In June of 2023, the completion of the 2nd year of the program was celebrated with a graduation ceremony at the Historic Ballard House, where guest speaker and author, Lisa McNair, discussed her book “Dear Denise: Letters to the Sister I Never Knew”. Lisa McNair’s sister, Denise, was one of the four little girls murdered in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church. The scholars also had the opportunity to participate in two immersive experiences. In March, scholars traveled to North Alabama to learn about health disparities and inequities in that region. They spoke with pediatricians at Fort Payne Pediatrics to learn the great work the practice is doing to improve mental health access to children in the area. They traveled to Gadsden and toured the Quality of Life Health Complex, the largest system of federally qualified community health centers in the state of Alabama. Scholars learned more about the initiatives they have put forth to improve access to health for patients in North Alabama and throughout the state, including the development mobile clinics. In September, the scholars had the opportunity to travel throughout the Black Belt and to prominent places pivotal to the Civil Rights Movement to explore the historical context of health disparities and inequities within Alabama. They visited the Legacy Museum and National Museum for Peace and Justice in Montgomery. They spoke with Dallas

2023 Academic Annual Report

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