Community Outreach and Advocacy

The Brown Med/Peds program has a strong history of resident-driven community outreach and advocacy. Residents participate in multiple community organizations, lending medical and non-medical talents to important causes. Examples include:

Rhode Island Free Clinic

Several Med/Peds residents and faculty volunteer at the Rhode Island Free Clinic, a collaboration between Rhode Island Hospital, Brown Medical School, and a community health foundation to ensure access to medical care for uninsured or indigent individuals.

Young Doctors Club

As part of the "Kids into Health Careers" National Initiative, the Med/Peds program has organized and hosted an after school club for 8th grade students at the Roger Williams Middle School, a local public middle school about a mile from the hospital campus. Twice per month, Med/Peds residents and faculty host the student members of the club for a one hour workshop highlighting some aspect of medicine (cardiology, hematology, infectious diseases, etc.) or related healthcare fields (nursing, laboratory technician, respiratory therapist, etc.). Activities such as staining and viewing their teachers' peripheral blood smears, watching an obstetric ultrasound, or discussing the importance of good study habits in school have made this program extremely popular with residents and middle schoolers alike. Raina Phillips, MD, Anne Gabonay, MD and Alexis Devine, Youth Development Coordinator (Lifespan Office of Community Outreach) run the program, which has been featured in the Providence Journal, Channel 10 News and the Rhode Island Hospital Founders Day Celebration.

Refugee Services

A refugee medicine clinic is run within the Medicine/Pediatrics Primary Care Center two times per month. Building on the successful model of the Hasbro Pediatric Refugee Program and supervised by Drs. Jennifer Gartman and Elizabeth Toll, the Refugee Clinic provides intake services for newly relocated refugees and allows for their integration into the resident clinic for on-going primary care. The clinic is also staffed by residents and medical students and works closely with the Rhode Island International Institute and its staff and interpreters to provide comprehensive care to this diverse population. Dr. Sylvia Lacourse received a 2009 NMPRA resident grant to expand resident-provided training in primary health care topics for institute interpreters.