title: Pediatric resident perceptions of public health education: learner-based insights into curriculum design and implementation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this research was to evaluate a public health curriculum for pediatric residents from the learners' perspective, exploring resident attitudes, insights, and recommendations as to the most effective and learner-centric approaches to curriculum design and implementation in the context of graduate medical education.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-five of 59 Children's Hospital of The Kings' Daughters (CHKD) residents participated in focus groups and individual interviews. All sessions took place between June and July 2012 and were audiorecorded, transcribed, and coded for major themes using NVivo software.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 5 major themes identified by this study included: 1) perceptions of public health relevance and impact, 2) time and competing priorities, 3) speaker-audience harmonization, 4) the need for practical solutions, and 5) individual tailoring. Study results paint a distinctive picture of residents' ideal public health curriculum-a less structured, more individualized educational opportunity that prioritizes small group discussions, maximizes speaker-audience interactions, and details a wide array of specific community-based programs and resources available to pediatricians and their patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The learner needs identified through this research suggest that effective public health training for residents would include protected time for public health instruction, faculty development workshops, linkages with appropriate local organizations, and opportunities for each resident to pursue his or her own projects. Residencies that wish to address learner preferences in the development and realization of public health training would benefit from considering these characteristics in designing their curriculum.
authors.affiliation: Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA.
authors.forename: Kelly A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Kaethe P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Ferguson
authors.forename: Natasha K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Sriraman
authors.forename: Pravash
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mukherjee
authors.forename: Clarence W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Gowen
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D020380:Needs Assessment; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education*; D011634:Public Health / Q000193:education*
keywords: curriculum development; public health; resident education