Child Health Advocacy Program (CHAP)

*This is a summer independent-study research project. The program’s goal is to create a diverse set of opportunities for students to engage in Pediatric advocacy, research, projects, and policy development.

Advisor: Dr. Colin Sox, Colin.sox@bmc.org

Contact: Natalie Mulkey, mulkeyna@bu.edu

The purpose of the Child Health and Advocacy Project is to provide summer service-learning opportunities for first-year medical students interested in pediatrics and urban advocacy. Students participating in the Child Health Advocacy Project develop a project with their mentor, track outcomes which will be presented to the whole group in the Fall Symposium, design a plan for sustainability, attend summer workshop speaker sessions, and reflect on their experience via faculty and intern check in meetings.

Students will:

  • Advocate for their pediatric patients
  • Develop a better understanding of the unique issues that patients in the Boston Medical Center community and affiliated health centers encounter daily.
  • Learn to communicate with children and their families about the social determinants of health