Global Health Education in US Pediatric Residency Programs

• Published in: Pediatrics (Evanston) 2015-09, Vol.136 (3), p.458-465
• Main Authors: Butteris, Sabrina M, Schubert, Charles J, Batra, Maneesh, Coller, Ryan J, Garfunkel, Lynn C, Monticalvo, David, Moore, Molly, Arora, Gitanjli, Moore, Melissa A, Condurache, Tania, Sweet, Leigh R, Hoyos, Catalina, Suchdev, Parminder S
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Company business management; Curriculum - statistics & numerical data; Global Health - education; Health education; Humans; Internship and Residency - statistics & numerical data; Management; Pediatrics; Pediatrics - education; Study and teaching; Surveys and Questionnaires; Training; United States; Wellness programs
• ISSN: 0031-4005; 1098-4275
• DOI: 10.1542/peds.2015-0792

Despite the growing importance of global health (GH) training for pediatric residents, few mechanisms have cataloged GH educational opportunities offered by US pediatric residency programs. We sought to characterize GH education opportunities across pediatric residency programs and identify program characteristics associated with key GH education elements. Data on program and GH training characteristics were sought from program directors or their delegates of all US pediatric residency programs during 2013 to 2014. These data were used to compare programs with and without a GH track as well as across small, medium, and large programs. Program characteristics associated with the presence of key educational elements were identified by using bivariate logistic regression. Data were collected from 198 of 199 active US pediatric residency programs (99.5%). Seven percent of pediatric trainees went abroad during 2013 to 2014. Forty-nine programs (24.7%) reported having a GH track, 66.1% had a faculty lead, 58.1% offered international field experiences, and 48.5% offered domestic field experiences. Forty-two percent of programs reported international partnerships across 153 countries. Larger programs, those with lead faculty, GH tracks, or partnerships had significantly increased odds of having each GH educational element, including pretravel preparation. The number of pediatric residency programs offering GH training opportunities continues to rise. However, smaller programs and those without tracks, lead faculty, or formal partnerships lag behind with organized GH curricula. As GH becomes an integral component of pediatric training, a heightened commitment is needed to ensure consistency of training experiences that encompass best practices in all programs.