Presenter Profile
Enjuli Chhaniara, MD, PGY-2
Valley Children's Pediatric Residency Program
Dr. Enjuli Chhaniara is a pediatric resident in her final year of training at Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera, California. Originally from Seattle, Washington, she earned her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona. She completed her clinical rotations in Oregon, returning to the Pacific Northwest to deepen her commitment to pediatric primary care. Dr. Chhaniara is passionate about community medicine, with a particular interest using media advocacy to promote injury prevention and preventive health. Through her work as a “mediatrician,” she aims to foster a culture of physician media advocacy to help educate beyond the clinic setting that safe behaviors can be both appealing and fun for children. Dr. Chhaniara plans to pursue a career in pediatric primary care following the completion of her residency.
Presentations
Developing a Longitudinal Advocacy and Injury Prevention Curriculum for Pediatric Residents
Enjuli Chhaniara, MD, PGY-2
Hailey Nelson, MD, FAAP, IBCLC
Unintentional injuries remain the leading cause of death for children ages 1–21. In 2023 alone, a regional children’s hospital reported over 700 trauma admissions, excluding numerous additional injuries managed in the emergency department. The majority of the hospital’s pediatric patients are from underserved backgrounds, with high proportions of racial/ethnic minorities and families living below the federal poverty line. While the pediatric residency program includes some advocacy-focused education, a gap in training exists during the second and third years. Additionally, current curricula lack emphasis on media literacy and strategic communication—key tools for modern advocacy. This project aims to develop a longitudinal curriculum for senior residents during “Y weeks” that equips pediatric residents with both injury prevention knowledge and communication skills to effectively engage communities.
This program will span July 2025 to March 2026. Twenty-seven senior residents will be divided into five large cohorts (5-6 residents each), with each cohort assigned one of five high-priority injury topics: drowning prevention, poison prevention, safe sleep, burn prevention, or motor vehicle safety. Each cohort will be further divided by age focus (0–10 and 11–18 years). In partnership with Safe Kids California, each cohort will be paired with a content expert mentor and participate in a series of structured learning modules, including:
Written-to-verbal translation of research articles
Simulated advocacy conversations with families
Health policy workshops
Field trips to relevant community organizations
Residents will then design and implement a health campaign for their injury topic, including bilingual (English/Spanish) materials such as blog posts, infographics, and short videos. Campaigns will be presented during an Interprofessional Injury Prevention Day to residency faculty, hospital staff, AAP Chapter members, and Safe Kids Coalition partners.
By March 2026, we anticipate ten distinct health campaigns (one per sub-cohort), each consisting of a minimum of two educational deliverables. This will yield at least 20 bilingual materials to be used in community outreach. Qualitative evaluation will include grading rubrics used by stakeholders during the capstone showcase to assess content accuracy, public engagement, and creativity. Residents will complete pre- and post-tests to assess their knowledge of injury prevention and advocacy, alongside self-assessment surveys to measure growth in confidence and skill.
This novel curriculum fills a critical training gap by integrating injury prevention and advocacy skills into a longitudinal format. With structured mentorship and community partnerships, residents gain real-world communication experience while producing valuable educational resources. The model is scalable and replicable for other institutions aiming to enhance resident advocacy and community impact.
1. Describe the structure of a longitudinal injury prevention and advocacy curriculum integrated into pediatric residency training.
2. Identify effective strategies for teaching communication skills to residents using injury prevention topics.
3. Demonstrate how to leverage community partnerships to guide resident-led health campaigns and evaluate outcomes.