Jacksonville, Fla. – Jeffrey Goldhagen, M.D., a University of Florida clinical associate professor and division chief of general pediatrics, and Elisa Zenni, M.D., a UF clinical assistant professor of general pediatrics, were recently awarded a highly competitive grant from the Dyson Foundation to expand community-oriented and community-based healthcare.
The goal of The Anne E. Dyson Community Pediatrics Training Initiative is to develop a new generation of pediatricians with skills and knowledge of community-based medicine, advocacy and the capacity to improve the health of all children in their communities.
The UF Department of Pediatrics at Shands Jacksonville, under the leadership of Tom Chiu, M.D., has a long history of dedication to education and collaboration of meeting community needs.
“Drs. Zenni and Goldhagen are the embodiment of that dedication. Dr. Zenni brings special strengths in the field of innovative pediatric education and faculty development, while Dr. Goldhagen has strengthened the tie between the University of Florida and the Duval County Health Department and other pediatric healthcare entities in our region,” said Louis Russo, M.D., the senior associate dean for the UF College of Medicine at Shands Jacksonville. “The grant award is a well deserved recognition of past efforts and will assure that the pediatrics department will continue to advance this important area in the coming decades.”
The UF Health Science Center’s program at Shands Jacksonville will primarily focus on urban children. This program is truly ground breaking in its integration of an academic medical center with a department of public health. The program will be working day-to-day with the local public health department to implement a residency program in pediatrics and community health that will provide young pediatricians with a perspective on the complexity of issues facing children and their families as well as the interdisciplinary and cultural skills necessary to improve the health of children and families.
Each first-year resident in this program will choose a “village” of children (from a certain under-served neighborhood, for example, or young children with asthma) and will be responsible for improving their health status through hands-on projects and advocacy.
The UF Health Science Center at Shands Jacksonville is among four outstanding medical schools across the country that have been selected because of their commitment to establishing innovation in their pediatric residency programs. Each institution will receive up to $500,000 per year for five years.