Advocacy & Outreach - Pediatrics

Coat of Arms

Pediatrics Residents at UAB get involved in many different avenues of community outreach and volunteer work. Our Pediatric Residents established the "Coat of Arms" in the fall of 2003 as our Community Outreach/ Advocacy organization. The Coat of Arms Committee (Community, Outreach, and Advocacy) makes it easy to become involved by providing volunteer opportunities for residents to participate and volunteer.

The Coat of Arms has the following goals:

To increase resident participation in community activities/ child advocacy activities child advocacy activities locally, regionally, and state-wide
To make residents aware of community and Children's Hospital volunteer opportunities including camps, missions, etc.
To adopt a community service project as a residency program each year
To adopt a project each year to benefit the patients at Children's of Alabama

Residents also find their own ways to contribute to local, national, and international causes: spending time at camps as counselors and medical staff, going on medical mission trips (to Africa, Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico, and more), participating in charity walks/runs, making donations, and more.

We are proud of our commitment to serving others through volunteer work!

Advocacy Interest Group

The Advocacy Interest Group works closely with the Alabama Chapter of the AAP to coordinate involvement in the Fall State AAP Meeting, the Pediatric Legislative Day in Montgomery, and the Spring State AAP Meeting at the beach. The AAP in Alabama has an active interest in Resident Involvement and can provide lots of opportunities for interested residents.

Advocacy Opportunities

Health Fair

The Health Fair is held annually at a local elementary school and provides education on a variety of different health topics such as: healthy active living, gun safety, and poison prevention – to name a few.

Spring Scramble 5K

The Spring Scramble 5K helps promote the health and well-being of the Birmingham area's children, especially in underserved populations. This year, the funds went towards a school supply drive for schools impacted by recent tornados in Selma, Alabama. Funds have gone towards a variety of efforts including: local health fairs, Reach Out and Read initiatives promoting childhood literacy, UAB Blazer Kitchen partnership, baby safety shower drive, and holiday gift drives.

Primary Care Clinic Holiday Collection

Each year our Pediatric Residency Program provides Christmas gifts for several Primary Care Clinic families. We are able to meet the gift requests of our children’s families with many of our residents, faculty, and staff’s generous donations.

Camps

Each year our residents have the opportunity to work at Children’s Camps where they can volunteer for a day, a weekend, or a week. Some of these camps include: Adaptive Aquatics, Asthma Camp, Burn Camp, Camp BRIDGES, Camp COOL, Camp Smile-A-Mile, Camp Seale Harris, Camp Smile, Magic Moments, and Muscular Dystrophy Camp. These camps offer a wide variety of activities for their campers and are located on Lake Martin.

Additional Volunteer Opportunities

Our volunteer and engagement opportunities continue to grow and are adapted based off community needs and resident interests. Some new initiatives in the past few years include: A baby safety shower for local mothers to provide education and resources as they prepare for their babies. A campus-wide “spice” drive for UAB Blazer Kitchen, our university’s food bank. Partnering with local schools for puberty talks in middle school classrooms. A school supply drive to stuff backpacks for elementary schools impacted by recent tornados in Selma, Alabama. A campus-wide book drive for chapter books to provide at well child visits in our resident Primary Care Clinic.

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