Call for Applications: AAP Rural-health Community of Practice Application |
Apply to be considered for participation in the project by Friday, December 15, 2025.
Introduction
Thank you for your interest. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is recruiting pediatric clinicians practicing in rural and/or Tribal communities to participate in a virtual Rural-health Community of Practice focusing on practical strategies for improving care for children living with birth defects and infant disorders (BDID) and their families.
Thank you for your interest. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is recruiting pediatric clinicians practicing in rural and/or Tribal communities to participate in a virtual Rural-health Community of Practice focusing on practical strategies for improving care for children living with birth defects and infant disorders (BDID) and their families.
A community of practice (COP) is a group of individuals with a shared interest who collaborate to achieve personal and collective goals, emphasizing the exchange of best practices and knowledge to enhance their professional field through ongoing interaction. By fostering collaboration and knowledge-sharing, the COP will empower pediatric clinicians in rural and/or Tribal areas to enhance the quality of care provided for infants and children with BDID. As much as possible, the project will highlight the following conditions: congenital syphilis (CS) and congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV).
As part of this COP, there will be four (4) structured educational sessions (1-hour each) held bi-monthly, with a strong emphasis on peer-to-peer learning and collaborative discussion. To enrich these sessions, participants / teams will be required to share a case study and/or their experiences related to the session topic area in providing care for infants and children with BDID. In addition, all participants will have access to an online shared workspace to access session recordings, discussion boards, and share resources and best practices among their peers. High-speed internet is required to participate.
Individual clinicians or health teams from rural and/or Tribal practices are welcome to participate. When possible, we encourage participation of multidisciplinary teams that may include pediatricians, family medicine providers, pediatric subspecialists, nurses, social workers, and other physician and non-physician clinicians.
Practice/hospital teams selected to participate will be expected to participate in all the following virtual educational sessions (each will be held from 12-1pm CT):
January 21, 2026: Recommended care process(es) for optimal outcomes; condition specific for congenital syphilis (CS) and congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV)
March 18, 2026: Navigating difficult conversations in medicine and building trust with patients
May 6, 2026: Partnering with my clinicians for success: My lived experience
July 15, 2026: How to best equip clinicians to support families, and overcoming challenges in rural pediatric care
Contact Jen Gorlewski (jgorlewski@aap.org) for additional information about this project.
This project is being implemented by the American Academy of Pediatrics via a cooperative agreement (grant #NU01DD000032) with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.