As Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education (GME), Anita Blanchard, MD, helms a team that draws top talent to the resident and fellows programs at the University of Chicago Medicine on the Hyde Park campus, currently 1,000 participants strong.
While Blanchard celebrates this success, she laments the small number of graduates who ultimately go on to serve South Side communities like where she grew up. In 2020, of 330 graduates, 55 chose to practice in Chicago. And only eight decided to practice on the South Side, where scarcity of healthcare providers — particularly those of color — contributes to health disparities and affects health outcomes and life expectancies for predominantly Black and brown communities.
In February 2021, GME launched the Community Champions program to strengthen the connection between resident physicians and these underserved communities, providing participants with outreach and service opportunities. Thirty-three Community Champions were selected from 19 residency programs, including 21 people of color and 25 women.
The program is structured to leverage the robust community network and partnerships of UChicago Medicine’s Urban Health Initiative (UHI). Community Champions have mostly been deployed for COVID-19 vaccine outreach efforts organized by the UHI. They have served as panelists on virtual community meetings, guest hosts on a community health radio program, spokespersons for public service announcements, and even participants in a cooking demonstration.
