Early COVID-19 Impact on Adolescent Health and Medicine Programs in the United States: LEAH Program Leadership Reflections

Emans et al express insights about the early COVID-19 impact on adolescent health and medicine programs in the US, reflecting the LEAH program leadership. The US Maternal Child Health Bureau (MCHB) funds seven Leadership in Adolescent Health (LEAH) programs across the country. The mission of the network of LEAH programs is to train health professionals from medicine, nursing, nutrition, psychology, and social work to be leaders in clinical care, teaching, research, public health policy, and organization of health services for adolescents and young adults (AYA). In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, out-of-necessity patient and clinical care needs were prioritized. Programs were developing strategies to balance delivery of patient care with trainees' educational needs. Challenges and emerging approaches to meet the educational needs of multi-disciplinary trainees were discussed.