Steward: American Academy of Pediatrics (Maureen Cooney)

​This group was first convened in June 2016 with funding support for the Centers of Disease Control & Prevention.
The collaborative group of organizations makes up the USBC affiliated Physician Education & Training Constellation.

Constellation Goals:

The goal of the Physician Engagement and Training focused on Infant Nutrition project is to engage medical provider organizations and relevant stakeholders to

1. Implement recommendations on strategies to engage medical practitioners to improve the continuity of infant feeding-related care from the prenatal period through early childhood and
2. Increase availability and accessibility of medical practitioner education curriculum resources that incorporates the most recent evidence-based infant feeding knowledge and clinical skills to support the mother, child, and family in meeting their breastfeeding goals.

2019-2020 Constellation Objectives:

Objectives for this constellation change annually. For the current budget period objectives include:

1. Model Policy Implementation: Facilitate and support processes to identify medical schools, residency and fellowship programs, clinics, hospitals, and healthcare systems that can implement or adapt AAFPs Breastfeeding and Lactation Policy for Medical Trainees within their institution as appropriate for their setting and resources.
2. Culture Plan Development: Develop a plan to create a culture of support for breastfeeding within the medical community, emphasizing support for breastfeeding medical practitioners at all levels of training as a part of medical practitioner wellness.
3. Breastfeeding Curriculum Update: Update and/or expand essential materials on the AAP Breastfeeding Curriculum website. Currently the AAP Breastfeeding Curriculum is focused on assisting residency faculty in curriculum design. The plan is to expand this curriculum to include both learners and faculty as audiences. For the 2019-2020 grant period this grant will focus on organizing and approving of the modules and revamping the first module: medical knowledge. A specific focus will be paid to undergraduate learners.
4. Undergraduate Medical Education: Convene learning collaborative to explore processes and diverse approaches to enhance undergraduate medical education for breastfeeding.
5. Point-of-Care Resource Development: Explore and identify evidence-based breastfeeding information sources to develop and package materials for Point-of-Care Resources/Tools for providers.

Constellation Past Work:

Physician Education and Training on Breastfeeding Action Plan
The AAP developed a comprehensive action plan that includes recommendations for addressing:
1. Gaps in breastfeeding training and education for physicians, with special emphasis on underserved populations.
2. Training to support the safe implementation of evidence-based maternity practices supportive of breastfeeding.

Strategies include integration of breastfeeding training in the various stages of formal medical education, encouraging culture change to support breastfeeding within the medical education and training process, and encouragement of continuity of care with community breastfeeding resources. Efforts continue to implement the strategies outlined in the action plan within education and workforce settings for health professions who care for women and children.

Publication in Breastfeeding Medicine:
Meek, J. Y., & Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, Young, M., Noble, L., Calhoun, S. Dodd, S., Elliott-Rudder, M., Lappin, S., Larson, I., Lawrence, R.A., Marinelli, K.A., Marshall, N., Mitchell, K., Reece-Stremtan, S., Rosen-Carole, C., Rothenberg, S. Seo, T. Wonodi. A., (2019). Educational objectives and skills for the physician with respect to breastfeeding, revised 2018. Breastfeeding Medicine, 14(1), 5-13.

Breastfeeding Statements Developed:

• AAFP Breastfeeding and Lactation Policy for Medical Trainees
• ACOG Statement that delineate roles in breastfeeding support for the physician, lactation provider, and other health care professionals as well as how physicians might refer and or consult with them. To be posted online soon.

Other Work:

• Developed paper on 2017 Landscape Analysis of Breastfeeding-Related Physician Education in the United States. In review.
• Developed recommendations for an online Breastfeeding Resource Repository.
• Conducted Breastfeeding Residency Curriculum Market Analysis and Content Recommendations

Constellation Participants:

• ​Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine
• American Academy of Family Physicians
• American Academy of Pediatrics
• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
• American College of Osteopathic Pediatricians
• Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses​

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• National Hispanic Medical Association
• National Medical Association
• Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere
• United States Breastfeeding Committee