A Diverse Program That Cares for a Diverse Patient Population

Our program is proud of training the best pediatric residents from all racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, gender, and sexual orientation backgrounds. This enriches our learning environment and prepares our residents to meet the needs of a diverse patient population.

Our Patient Population

• Cincinnati Children's is the only institution in the Greater-Cincinnati metropolitan region that cares for pediatric patients that require hospitalization.
• Cincinnati Children's is BOTH a community hospital that cares for children with general pediatric diagnoses, and a quaternary care hospital that cares for children with complex medical problems who need subspecialty care.
• We serve a very diverse patient population in regards to race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Check out our Facts and Figures for more details.

With a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusivity, our goals are the following:

• To support and celebrate residents of diverse backgrounds
• To promote diversity in our program to better mirror our patient population
• To equip residents with tools and opportunities to provide equitable and culturally-effective care

Pediatric Residency Initiatives

• Residency Diversity Council that facilitates educational, social, and mentorship activities, discussions about diversity-related topics, and serves as resident-voice at institution-wide conversations 
• Formal curricula in the following areas:
  • Advocacy and Community Health: Two-week rotation that includes hands-on experience in an impoverished neighborhood to expose residents to local partners, its assets, and barriers. We also support an advanced advocacy curriculum for residents seeking to gain additional experience during elective time
  • Advocacy Interest Group: This group is open to all residents and has focused on community engagement, legislative advocacy, and local and national initiatives related to immigrant and refugee health, health equity, LGBTQIA, disabilities, voter registration, and vaccine hesitancy.
  • Geomedicine Curriculum at the Pediatric Primary Care (PPC) Center: Goals of the curriculum are for residents to identify and utilize neighborhood-specific resources to curtail the impact of poverty for patients and families
  • Structural Racism, Social Determinants of Health, Implicit Bias: Longitudinal curriculum that prompts residents to recognize the link between structural racism, social determinants of health and inequities in child health outcomes.
• Advocacy Day trips to the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus to advocate at a local and state level for changes that impact child health and equal access to healthcare
• “Second look” diversity dinners for residency program applicants
• Robust Interpreter Services and an opportunity for providers proficient in a second language to become certified as an interpreter
• Family Strong Dinners in which residents meet monthly with local families, interact with pregnant mothers, offer prenatal/ newborn counseling, and work towards building connections and relationships with residents of the community.
• Advocacy-based research and community engagement opportunities

Quotes from our Residents

"When I was interviewing for residency, I was looking for programs that worked with a diverse patient population and had the infrastructure to support and celebrate the diversity of their residents. I was impressed by the way Cincinnati Children’s valued the different experiences of their residents and how they provided us with excellent education on cultural competency in order to improve patient care. As a black woman, I also valued having mentors who have similar experiences to me. I had multiple faculty members reaching out to me to be my mentor. I was amazed by the incredible amount of support I have here, and I am very happy with my decision to train at an amazing institution." Harriet Appeah, MD, Categorical Pediatrics Resident

"Having grown up in Cincinnati, I saw the impact Cincinnati Children’s Hospital had on the community and how it provided both specialized and primary care. I was very grateful to train at Cincinnati Children’s during medical school and saw first-hand their dedication to their residents, medical students, and patients. This was one of the many reasons I chose to come here. Another reason was the opportunity to become a Qualified Bilingual Staff member, which gave me the tools to communicate with my patients directly in Spanish. For other languages, we also have a great interpreter team through our Language Access Services. The residency program is very supportive of residents and works with us to pursue our interests. By staying in Cincinnati for residency, I was able to continue working with community partners such as Su Casa to provide education classes to Spanish speaking families. It has also been great getting to know my co-residents. I love hanging out with them and going to the Cincinnati Zoo after a shift at work or trying new foods from local vendors at Taste of Cincinnati. Whether it’s exploring the festivals around the city, spending time outside in our many parks, or going to Reds games, there is always so much to do in Cincinnati!" Rosario Alarcon, MD, Categorical Pediatrics Resident

"I am originally from California and people ask me all the time why I chose to leave California and come to Cincinnati. For me, the choice was easy: the support, leadership, patient population, and this city drew you in and made me feel a sense of belonging. I was fortunate enough to be in Cincinnati for medical school and when I saw the way that Cincinnati Children’s cared for some of the most vulnerable populations with the compassion, love, and respect that these communities needed, I knew I wanted to stay. The fact that our organization can provide us with the opportunity to serve refugee, complex care, low SES, and other underserved communities the right way, all while providing a world class medical education focused on research and quality improvement for our patients, was the game changer for me. I am so happy that I was able to stay and continue to serve this amazingly diverse community. On top of that, the city of Cincinnati has a little bit of everything that you could want – delicious food (there’s a lot more than Cincinnati Chili, I promise), sporting events, coffee shops, music venues, musicals/plays, with libraries, parks, and museums as well. There is always something to do, and always someone from the program to do it with. I’ve met up with my mentors for a cup of coffee, mentored Cincinnati Medicine medical students over brunch, and bonded with my co-residents at many venues throughout the city and I can’t wait to explore some more." Stephanie Thomas, Medicine/Pediatrics Resident