Funded Projects

Problem:

To train a new generation of Developmental-Behavioral pediatricians to become leaders in research, clinical care, and the teaching of this relatively new field of DBP, while addressing the issues of disadvantaged and multicultural families.

Goals and Objectives:

Goal 1: To train an average of three DBP fellows / year. Objective 1: To recruit at least one qualified candidate / year. Objective 2: To increase efforts and recruit at least one qualified minority candidate every three years. Objective 3: To graduate one DBP fellow each year and for that fellow to become board-certified in DBP following completion. Goal 2: Training of DBP fellows in clinical skills. Objective 1: Participation in the many DBP clinical programs at BUSM/BMC throughout the three year fellowship. Objective 2: Electives in child neurology and child psychiatry at BMC. Objective 3: Electives in programs outside of BMC to meet specific fellow needs. Goal 3: Training of DBP fellows in research skills. Objective 1: SUccessful completion of at least two courses at BU School of Public Health in research methodology and biostatistics. Objective 2: Completion of a piece of meaningful research during the fellowship. Objective 3: Submission of the research to a peer-reviewed journal upon completion. Goal 4: Training of DBP fellows in teaching skills. Objective 1: Provide talks to medical students and pediatric resdients beginning in the first year on DBP topics of interest, Objective 2: Present talks to outside, interdisciplinary community groups of child professionals. Objective 3: Give a formal talk to primary care pediatricians at our yearly Continuing Medical Education conference. Goal 5: Specialized training in culturally-competent behavioral and developmental issues of disadvantaged families. Objective 1: Working in the BMC clinics, which serve primarily a socioeconomically disadvantaged, multi-ethnic population. Objective 2: Attend at least 5 /year focused seminars on issues relating to poverty,class, ethnicity and/or cultural competence. Objective 3: Work collaboratively with many public agencies to successfully advocate for children and families.

Methodology:

Fellow recruitment occurs through a number of venues: (1) Active recruitment of interested pediatric residents in our own program (2) Update MCHB and our web site for online recruiting. (3) Yearly update of our Pediatric program's minority recruitment web site. (4) Informal discussions with pediatric residency program directors nationally. (5) Scheduling a full day vist to our program that includes interviews with all available faculty and fellows. Fellow training occurs through a variety of venues. Please see specific objectives for details.

Coordination:

Our Division enjoys a close relationship with many state and local agencies, including MA DPH (EI and Projects Dulce and LAUNCH), the Department of Early Education and Childcare, the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (our SPARK Center and CWTV Program is funded by DCF), coordination with Boston Healthy Start, consultation to the Boston Public Schools, and the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office as well as the Mayors Task Force on Autism.

Evaluation:

The fellowship training program utilizes three modes of programmatic evaluation all available online thru New Innovations: (1) A Fellow's Log to keep track of the fellow's clinical and didactic experiences during the fellowship; (New Innovations online)

Experience to Date:

Over the past year we have had many accomplishments including: 1. We successfully recruited a new faculty member Arathi Reddy DO who is an MCHB graduate from the Einstein program, to help address th eincreasing volume of children we are seeing 2. We successfully recruited two outstanding new fellows- Jenny Radesky MD and Robert Keder MD- who began their fellowship 7/1/11 3. On June 30, 2009 we graduated our fellow Aasma Khandekar MD who took a position doing clinical care in the community. 4. Our Family Navigator (FN) grant, funded by MCHB in September 2009 is fully functional and recruiting families of children newly diagnosed with autism. We hired and trained two FN from the community- Ivys Fernandez-Pastrana and Simeon Damas- who are supporting families through the study. 5. The Zuckerman Parker Handbook of DBP was released in its third edition. 6. Marilyn Augustyn MD was appointed ot the ABP Subboard on DBP and also was appointed to the AAP Practical Pediatrics Planning Commmittee. 7. WE were visited by the ACGME in June 2011 and in October 2011 received a 5 yr reaccreditation certificate. 8. We continue to collaborate with Emily Feinberg PhD and her Project Solve study supporting families with young children diagnosed with ASD.