Benefiting the Community
UH Rainbow residents engage in many advocacy and community-based activities in the Cleveland area. Our program is committed to providing a strong foundational understanding of the history, assets and ongoing social needs of our community. This background prepares residents to explore their clinical and advocacy interests beyond the walls of Rainbow.
Our resident outpatient clinic at the UH Rainbow Ahuja Center for Women & Children cares for more than 30,000 patients per year, and more than 90 percent of these patients qualify for Medicaid. The Center was intentionally built near where a large percentage of our patients live. Residents work collaboratively with our clinic’s extraordinary social workers, community health workers and clinical staff to help coordinate the comprehensive care of children and their families.
Community-engaged experiences occur throughout our curriculum in multiple ways, including:
- General Ambulatory Pediatrics Academic Half-Days
- Advocacy Longitudinal Curriculum
- Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics
- Individualized Curriculum
Residents also have opportunities to design their own advocacy experiences, particularly through the Global Health and Advocacy Tracks.
Some past examples of self-designed resident advocacy projects include:
- Health education classes for refugee youth at a local middle school
- Gun safety education and lockbox/trigger lock distribution
- Trauma informed healthcare for trafficked youth
- A novel preventative health program for homeless children in Cleveland
- An assessment of adolescents’ access to resources at a local rape crisis center
- The development of a first-of-its-kind support packet to give to children who have a parent in prison.
Our residents also use their free time outside the hospital to serve the community. Residents and faculty have participated in the UH Future Shades in Medicine Youth Summit, engaging with youth interested in health professions. They have also participated in community events providing resources on child and family health and community fundraisers, like Run for Rainbow.