Improving Residency Training in Refugee and Immigrant Health Care at an Urban Academic Family Medicine Residency.

Abstract

As a safety net hospital, Boston Medical Center (BMC) serves a global community of patients and is welcoming new refugee and immigrant patients at an unprecedented rate. Many of these patients are cared for by Family Medicine residents and faculty in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Currently, the care delivered by Family Medicine residents lacks uniformity due to lack of familiarity with the U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) guidelines for refugee health, differing levels of faculty preceptor experience, and variable in-house resources for primary care across five residency clinic sites. To address these disparities, a team of Family Medicine residents and faculty designed a multidisciplinary global health educational series with a focus on strengthening resident competencies in refugee and immigrant health care. Refugee and immigrant health is discussed in didactic workshops and residents apply a refugee and immigrant health care map that has been developed for use in their clinics. The primary outcome is self-reported changes in clinical practices while caring for refugee and immigrant patients who are establishing or re-establishing care in the United States. Our goal is to continue improving resident education in order to provide the most equitable care for populations at an increased risk of disparate access to care.