Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine

The focus of my academic career has been developing programs in Community Pediatrics and promoting team-based care in the medical home model.  This began when I was an integral part of the submission of our Department's Anne E. Dyson Community Pediatrics Training Initiative grant.  A major component of this grant was teaching residents how to implement the specific components of medical home as well as partnership with families and communities and inter-professional education and practice.  We were chosen to be one of 5 Wave 2 programs to be funded for $2.5 million dollars over a five-year period between 2002-2007.   I organized and was the first director of the Community Rotations for first and second year pediatric residents, participated in the publication of a guide to developing true partnerships with community based organizations in residency programs and continued to build relationships within the Latino community to better serve the patients and families in my clinical practice.  We worked closely with the Centers for Service and Learning at IUPUI to develop the community experiences for residents.  I contributed to the development of the Bi-national Cross-Cultural Health Enhancement Center and was the Community Liaison to this Signature Center working closely with my dental and nursing colleagues.  I have received and implemented a grant to place community-based organization faculty as co-teachers in continuity clinic settings.  I was supported by my medical group to develop our application for NCQA PC-PCCM Medical Home designation and was a participant of the Indiana Community Integrated Systems of Services (IN CISS) Medical Home Project. I am currently the lead faculty in the Our Kids Our Community Advanced Training which  was established in 2017 to improve health outcomes of children and youth served by Eskenazi Medical Group (EMG), as well as other Pediatric Urban Teaching Clinicians through partnership with their medical groups.  An interdisciplinary cadre of EMG and IU School of Medicine (IUSM) faculty developed a year-long curriculum to provide advanced training for pediatric urban clinician educators. This program utilizes a comprehensive and collaborative educational approach to improve the skills and competencies of primary care pediatricians necessary to provide high quality and transformative team-based care to underserved populations while using innovative and effective teaching methods for learners in the co-existing academic environment.  I am currently piloting application of Flouride Varnish in primary care in Eskenazi Medical group with a plan to roll the initiative out to all sites and Directing the Assessment of Socioemotional Health and Wellness grant with 10 practices in Indiana.  Finally, I have served as co-president of the Indiana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and currently am the Legislative Chairperson.