Learning Event Support: Inter-Disciplinary Healthcare Education in Family Preservation, Kinship/Foster Care, and Adoption

Project Summary:

Participants in this learning opportunity will acquire a deep understanding of the child welfare system, its impact, and the interdisciplinary knowledge that informs it. Events will promote adoption/foster care–informed practice to improve health outcomes for patients impacted by child welfare. Content will explore family preservation efforts, cross-disciplinary interventions for youth, systemic barriers/resources, and community support for families in child welfare. Along with didactics, learners will meet with individuals with lived experiences (e.g., kinship/foster parents, adults who experienced foster care), culminating in a patient simulation to integrate/demonstrate learning. Events will be available to medical trainees (MCW, all campuses) and graduate psychology fellows (MCW, in partnership with Children's Wisconsin). Leaners will be invited based on self-selected interest in adoption/foster care medicine. This content is not available elsewhere within the current MCW medical/graduate school curriculum. Participants are anticipated to have career interests in pediatrics, family medicine, developmental psychology, and/or community medicine/public health. Event participation will be capped at 15 learners to promote in-depth evaluation of the impact, methods, and value of each learning experience.