Tulane Team Earns National Back to Bedside Funding

A Tulane University School of Medicine team has been selected by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) as one of 23 resident- and fellow-led teams nationwide to receive funding through the fifth cycle of its Back to Bedside initiative.

Led by Elizabeth Chang, MD, PhD, the Tulane team, which also includes Tuhin Choudhary, MD, MPH, will develop The Great Childhood Hike, an interactive project designed to strengthen relationships between pediatric residents and families in the Continuity Clinic.

The project uses the metaphor of a hike to make childhood development more engaging for both families and residents. Through a collectible “Buddy Card” system, “Trail Map” booklets and a planned “Hike Wall” mural in the clinic, the team hopes to turn routine well-child visits into opportunities to celebrate growth, reinforce developmental milestones and build lasting connections between families and their physicians.

We want well-child visits to feel personal, engaging, and relational.

Elizabeth Chang, MD, PhD

Chang said the idea grew out of her own experiences as a resident.

“With our busy schedules, Continuity Clinic can feel like ticking off boxes and getting through lists of patients when in fact, we are caring for children and families through a really important period of time,” Chang said. “The healthy habits we emphasize and establish in the clinic shape patterns that affect a lifetime.”

Developmental milestones are an important part of pediatric care, but remembering the many milestones across different stages of childhood can be challenging for residents. Parents may also be unsure of what milestones to expect and when. The Great Childhood Hike is designed to make that information easier to engage with while creating opportunities for families and residents to discuss a child’s development.

The first phase of the project will introduce personalized “Buddy Cards” for each resident. Designed like collectible trading cards, the cards will feature a cartoon version of the resident along with fun facts about them. School-aged patients can collect cards as they meet different residents, helping children become familiar with their providers and making clinic visits feel less intimidating.

Next, families will receive “Trail Map” booklets containing age-specific developmental milestones, checklists, tips and activities. Families can use the maps at home to follow their child’s development and bring them to well-child visits, where residents and families can celebrate milestones together and discuss any areas of concern.

The team also envisions a large “Hike Wall” mural in the Continuity Clinic. Each child will have a marker that can move along the trail following each well-child visit, creating a visual representation of the growth and development of the children cared for by the clinic.

For families, the goal is to make well-child visits feel more personal, engaging and relational while establishing the clinic as a supportive partner as they navigate their child’s growth and development.

For residents, Chang hopes the project can bring renewed joy and meaning to primary care by helping them see Continuity Clinic as more than a series of individual appointments.

“We want them to see Continuity Clinic not simply as a series of visits, but as a place to celebrate progress and growth in children and their families,” Chang said.

The project also offers a practical opportunity for residents to reinforce their knowledge of developmental milestones through repeated, interactive experiences in the clinic.

Back to Bedside provides competitive funding for resident- and fellow-led teams to develop innovative, cost-effective projects that strengthen the physician-patient relationship. Tulane’s team was selected from a record number of applicants for the fifth cycle of the initiative.

“It’s an honor to have The Great Childhood Hike selected as one of 23 Back to Bedside projects nationwide,” Chang said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to take an idea and turn it into something tangible for our patients, families and residents.”

The two-year development period will give the Tulane team an opportunity to test the project, gather feedback from families and residents, and refine its approach. Chang is particularly interested in learning whether the Trail Maps help parents better understand developmental milestones and recognize concerns earlier, whether families enjoy using them, and whether these small changes create more opportunities for residents and families to connect.

“I look forward to seeing The Great Childhood Hike actually come to life,” Chang said. “It’s exciting to take a step back from our day-to-day work, think creatively about how to improve Continuity Clinic, and have the opportunity and resources to put those ideas into practice.”

Chang also looks forward to bringing the pediatric residency program together around the project and collaborating with people outside of medicine to develop the Trail Map booklets and, eventually, the Hike Wall.

At the conclusion of the two-year development cycle, the Tulane team will join the other selected teams in presenting their projects at the ACGME Annual Educational Conference in Orlando, Florida, in 2028.

Through The Great Childhood Hike, the Tulane team hopes to demonstrate how small, creative changes to the clinical experience can help physicians and families reconnect with what is at the heart of pediatric primary care: supporting children as they grow, develop and reach the many milestones along the way.

Learn more about the ACGME Back to Bedside program and view the full list of funded projects on the ACGME Back to Bedside project list.