Bridging Disciplines to Improve Early Childhood Outcomes
Divya Kaushal, MS MPH’26, alongside Julie Taylor, MD, MSc, associate dean for medical education, interim chair of community and family medicine and professor of medical education, Frances Lim-Liberty, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics and of medical education, and Deborah Hoffer, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics and of medical education, presented Geisel’s innovative longitudinal curriculum threads in Child Development, Health and Illness, Nutrition, and Health Equity at the Bright Start International Conference in London, UK. The conference convened educators, early-childhood specialists, physicians, researchers and policymakers from around the world, fostering a dynamic atmosphere for interdisciplinary learning and collaboration.
Their presentation, Bridging Sectors: Educators & Physicians United for Early Childhood, highlighted how Geisel’s longitudinal curricular threads—concepts intentionally integrated across courses and clerkships in medical education—prepare future physicians to collaborate effectively with educators and community partners to improve outcomes for young children.
“Presenting at the Bright Start Conference was a profoundly significant experience that enhanced the influence of our efforts in integrated pediatric curriculum development,” Kaushal says. “The event was particularly impactful as I observed academic professionals from disciplines outside of medicine engaging with curriculum mapping for the first time.”
The session featured an interactive case study involving a 4-year-old exhibiting developmental delays, nutritional deficiencies, and socioeconomic obstacles. Participants worked collaboratively to map how their respective fields—including education, community health, public policy, family services, and social work—integrate within a coordinated, child-centered care framework.
Kaushal says her conversations with conference attendees revealed this curricular tool enabled them to clearly visualize interdisciplinary responsibilities—prompting them to consider mapping modifications for teacher training programs, early childhood curricula, and community-oriented professional development.
Reflecting on the experience, Kaushal emphasized that the educational strategies central to medical training—structured competencies, longitudinal curricular threads, equity-centered instruction, and integrated case-based learning—have meaningful relevance beyond clinical settings.
She added, “This reinforced my dedication to developing courses that integrate sectors, prioritize children and families, and equip future practitioners from diverse backgrounds to recognize the interconnected factors influencing early-life well-being.”
Discussing the Pediatrics Curriculum
In research designed to explore the instability of the pediatric workforce, Helen Thomason MED’26 presented her findings during the Association of American Medical Colleges’ annual national meeting in San Antonio, Texas. Her study indicates the national shortage of pediatricians is driven by several factors, including low pay and limited exposure to pediatricians in both the curriculum and as mentors.
Where Are the Pediatricians? Addressing Gaps in Pre-Clinical Curriculum to Shape the Future Workforce, explored how these gaps not only affect workforce sustainability but also limit students' ability to make informed specialty choices, thereby raising broader questions about equity in exposure across fields.
Thomason, who is interested in both medical education and scholarly work, reviewed Geisel’s curriculum as a first step. Partnering with one of her longtime faculty mentors, she evaluated the extent and delivery of pediatric content within Geisel’s existing preclinical curriculum.
“In our initial audit of the preclinical curriculum, we identified over 150 lectures discussing pediatric content, yet only 16 percent of those were delivered by pediatricians,” Thomason says. “Based on these preliminary findings, we plan to recommend increasing pediatrician involvement in pre-clinical teaching.
“The question that we're now posing, is, ‘If we have more pediatricians teaching in the preclinical years, could that lead to more exposure early in the medical school journey, and therefore more interest in pediatrics?’”
She proposed the intentional involvement of pediatricians in the preclinical curriculum to enhance equitable early specialty exposure without increasing curricular time, and to support informed career choices and workforce sustainability.
Next steps will be to compare Geisel’s existing curriculum to peer institutions and hopefully evaluate the effect of increased pediatrician-led teaching by assessing student satisfaction, changes in knowledge and attitude, changes in student behavior such as mentorship uptake, specialty interest, clerkship performance, and effects on residency specialty choice.
Thomason’s interest in attending the conference was to talk with students from other schools to learn about their curriculum and whether they are experiencing a diminishing interest in pediatrics. She discovered that they are.
“I want to highlight that this is not a Geisel-specific issue,” she says. “Learning what other schools are doing to address this shortage contributes to a benchmark that can lead to recommendations for how pediatrics is taught in a preclinical setting because right now there is no standard—and that’s the challenge.”
Thomason is working with first- and second-year Geisel medical students who can continue this ongoing study once she graduates.
“I'm incredibly proud to be going into pediatrics and to advocate for children and their families,” she says. “Something special about this project for me is that my On-Doctoring facilitator Dr. Deborah Hoffer, who I met on day one of medical school and has mentored me throughout, is a pediatrician and the lead for this work.”
