PLC Rotation / PLC

What is the Pediatric Links with the Community (PLC) Program?
The Pediatric Links with the Community (PLC) Program was founded 10 years ago, in 1996, as a resident education program, and will have trained over 290 residents by the end of the 2006-2007 academic year. Each year, pediatric, family medicine, and medicine-pediatric residents participate in an individually crafted, two-week community-based rotation.

The rotation occurs exclusively in the community.
During this time residents have the opportunity to learn, teach, and be involved with approximately half of our over 50 community-based organizations in the Rochester area. Residents provide medical information and engage in health promotion activities for underserved children and families, and gain exposure to a broad variety of community resources and organizations.

Why is this an important part of training?
As physicians, we recognize that our common responsibility is advocacy for all children. Our challenges include poverty, malnutrition, and violence. We believe that by linking with other community resources and caregivers our ultimate goal may be realized that all children achieve their fullest human potential.

Partnerships:
We currently collaborate with over 50 different community-based organizations that represent a diverse resource network for Rochester area children and families including: schools and preschools, community health centers, in the Monroe County Department of Health, the legal system, and community resource centers and outreach programs.

Goals:
" Learn about health issues present in our community, specifically, the relationships between and among community-based organizations and health care systems and their impact on children and family well-being.
" Understand and demonstrate how education, poverty, cultural differences and other social determinants of health affect community health status.
" Develop knowledge and practical skills regarding advocacy in addition to developing a working knowledge of community resources.
" Develop proficiency in presentation skills and facilitating the learning of different target audiences.

Methods:
" Participation in a two-week rotation with individual site visits.
" Present health topic at ABC Head Start.
" Read assigned articles and be prepared to discuss their relevance to the rotation as a whole and to individual sites and experiences.
" Discussion of experiences with PLC staff at closing breakfast, with focus on the overall experience, feedback, and specific focus on required readings.

Specific Assignments:
" Read assigned articles
" Case Study- reviewed during orientation with staff member
" Treasure Hunt
" Grocery Case and Transportation exercise
" PLC reflection

Evaluation:
" Written and verbal feedback by PLC staff regarding participation, overall understanding and knowledge relating to goals above.