Communities & Physicians Together (CPT)
The central feature of the UC Davis child advocacy training program is the Communities & Physicians Together (CPT). This program, established in 1999 as a partnership with Sierra Health Foundation's Community Partnerships for Healthy Children (CPHC) program, is designed as a longitudinal experience creating a unique opportunity for residents to experience community-based child advocacy throughout all 3 years of training.
In the early 1990s, the Sierra Health Foundation launched the CPHC program in which they provided training and resources to local neighborhood and community organizations, called community collaboratives, to help them focus on problems related to the health of children in their neighborhoods. A community collaborative is a neighborhood "association of associations" consisting of community residents, students, professionals, business owners, voluntary associations, and government agencies. These community collaboratives apply principles from McKnight and Kretzman's model of "asset-based community development" where community members assess the community’s strengths, assets, and needs and then identify and prioritize problems to be addressed through a strategic plan.
In this unique experience, residents are assigned in teams to work with a community collaborative. Residents will identify the assets of the community and how to work with the community collaborative on projects to enhance the health and well being of children. This experience includes both a two-week rotation during each residency year and a longitudinal partnership with the collaborative throughout the three years of residency.
CPT provides a unique opportunity to have residents partner with organized community collaboratives focused on child health. Through their experiences working with the Collaboratives, residents develop a broader and better-defined concept of child advocacy and their role as a pediatrician. The goals of CPT are to:
In the early 1990s, the Sierra Health Foundation launched the CPHC program in which they provided training and resources to local neighborhood and community organizations, called community collaboratives, to help them focus on problems related to the health of children in their neighborhoods. A community collaborative is a neighborhood "association of associations" consisting of community residents, students, professionals, business owners, voluntary associations, and government agencies. These community collaboratives apply principles from McKnight and Kretzman's model of "asset-based community development" where community members assess the community’s strengths, assets, and needs and then identify and prioritize problems to be addressed through a strategic plan.
In this unique experience, residents are assigned in teams to work with a community collaborative. Residents will identify the assets of the community and how to work with the community collaborative on projects to enhance the health and well being of children. This experience includes both a two-week rotation during each residency year and a longitudinal partnership with the collaborative throughout the three years of residency.
CPT provides a unique opportunity to have residents partner with organized community collaboratives focused on child health. Through their experiences working with the Collaboratives, residents develop a broader and better-defined concept of child advocacy and their role as a pediatrician. The goals of CPT are to:
- Educate pediatric residents to value child advocacy as an essential role of a pediatrician.
- Develop a well defined, sophisticated concept of child advocacy in residents and community pediatricians
- Incorporate child advocacy into clinical practice both in residency and in practice.
- Teach pediatric residents and community pediatricians to be effective Community Access to Child Health (CATCH) pediatricians by providing the fundamental skills and experiences for mobilizing a community to address child health issues.
- Develop, implement, and evaluate community projects that address child health needs within a community.
- Enhance the capacity of communities to improve the health of all children in their neighborhood.