Community Health

Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health provides critically needed medical and mental health services to underserved children and families in the Baton Rouge area. Every intern participates in a focused Community Medicine rotation that provides an understanding of the problems and challenges in mobilizing community resources aimed at delivering safe, effective, efficient and timely care for their pediatric patients. During this rotation, interns learn about the challenges and disparities facing our local community, evaluate state policies and legislative processes as related to child health, and engage in efforts to advocate for change. Upper levels are encouraged to participate in these activities as well and are scheduled for various projects throughout the year. We believe residents must learn to be advocates for their patients during residency in order to continue to serve as effective advocates as pediatricians.

Below are examples of the partnerships and opportunities in our community:

• Monthly in school based health clinics, Health Care Centers in Schools
• Monthly mobile bus clinics through the Gardere Initiative which serves immigrant families in our area.
• Mentoring at-risk middle & high school youth at the Baton Rouge “Big Buddy” school program. Residents discuss careers in medicine and pertinent health topics for the teens.
• Partnering with local elementary charter schools to teach basic health topics on nutrition, handwashing, exercise, and dental hygiene.
• Shadowing inpatient and outpatient social workers at Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health
• Collaborating with the Children’s Advocacy Center through monthly multidisciplinary child abuse virtual meetings as well as in person discussions during Family Nights w/ recovering victims and their families.
• Teaching boys and girls puberty classes at local libraries
• Shadowing a WIC officer to establish families with Louisiana’s supplemental nutrition program. Residents learn how to complete nutritional assessments as well as lead and anemia screenings.
• Visiting our local dyslexia schools and sitting in on small group teachings.
• Weekly community medicine discussions with the Tulane Pediatric Residency via Zoom on advocacy topics.
• Visits to the capital for Child Health Day and Vaccine Awareness Day during the legislative sessions.
• Seeing college patients at LSU Student Health Center (GYN, psych/counseling, nutrition).
• Story time with the children who are housed at our local domestic violence shelter.
• Medical volunteers at asthma & diabetes camp, and Camp Care (camp for our oncology patients).
• Biweekly healthy weight clinics: Residents learn how to care for children/teens with obesity in a multidisciplinary clinic.
• Partnering with the Safety Place of Baton Rouge who provides free seminars for new parents on crib and car seat safety. Resident have also volunteered for bicycle safety field trips at local schools.
• Volunteering for Louisiana Pediatric Cardiology Foundation to complete heart screenings and sports physicals at local high schools.
• Seeing patients at the adolescent gynecology clinic