Patricia Poitevien MD, MSc, FAAP is the Vice President for Campus Life at Brown University, where she shapes an inclusive, student-centered campus experience for undergraduate, medical, and graduate students. As a key member of the President's Cabinet, she oversees student affairs, residential life, student health, wellness and counseling services, student engagement, and belonging and inclusion initiatives. She previously served as Senior Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Division of Biology and Medicine at Brown University.
As an Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Teaching Scholar), Dr. Poitevien's research focuses on inclusion and mentorship of underrepresented learners in academic medicine, competency-based medical education (CBME), and the impact of racism on the clinical learning environment. A national leader in graduate medical education, she made history as the first African-American President of the Association of Pediatric Program Directors (APPD), where she now serves as Immediate Past-President. She chairs the American Board of Pediatrics Subcommittee on Competency Based Medical Education and is an elected member of both the National Academy of Distinguished Educators in Pediatrics and the American Pediatric Society.
Dr. Poitevien has lectured nationally and internationally on disparities in medical education and healthcare. Her scholarship spans professional identity formation for underrepresented in medicine learners, anti-racist medical education, and simulation-based faculty development to address bias in the clinical learning environment. She is co-editor of the forthcoming volume Graduate Medical Education in Pediatrics: From Basic Processes to True Innovation.
Brown University Division of Campus Life
| Graduate Medical Education in Pediatrics. edited by Heather McPhillips, Patricia Poitevien, Joanna Lewis, Rebecca Blankenburg, springer cham, 2026. |
| Schwartz A, Schumacher DJ, Dwyer A, Poitevien P, Turner DA. "Pediatric Residents' Readiness for Practice and Performance on the Initial Certifying Examination." Pediatrics, vol. 157, no. 2, 2026. |
| Pineda A, Vinci RJ, Turner A, Andriole D, Grbic D, Nguyen M, Poitevien P. "Pediatrics Specialty Choice Among Matriculants of MD-Granting US Medical Schools." JAMA Network Open, vol. 9, no. 3, 2026, pp. e260603. |
| Schumacher DJ, Kinnear B, Poitevien P, Daulton R, Winn AS. "Advancing, Graduating, and Attesting Readiness of Pediatrics Residents With Concerns." Pediatrics, vol. 155, no. 6, 2025. |
| Kas-Osoka OA, Poitevien P. "Showing Up is Still Resistance: Contextualizing Black Trainee Resistance in Medical Education." Perspectives on Medical Education, vol. 14, no. 1, 2025, pp. 423-426. |
| Poitevien P, Kas-Osoka O, Burns A, Prakash LK, Marbin J, Schwartz A, Lucas CT, Yemane L, Blankenburg R. "Upholding our PROMISE: Increased representation is not enough to foster belonging in graduate medical education." Medical education, vol. 59, no. 6, 2025, pp. 630-639. |
| Burns AM, Prakash LK, Yemane L, Kas-Osoka O, Blankenburg R, Marbin J, Poitevien P, Schwartz A, Lucas CT. "Upholding Our PROMISE: National Survey of Pediatrics Residents' Experiences with Discrimination, Burnout, Belonging, Professional Fulfillment, and Career Plans." The Journal of Pediatrics, vol. 291, 2025, pp. 114957. |
| Poitevien, Patricia, Sotto-Santiago, Sylk. "A Critical Look at Racism in the Clinical Learning Environment and the Erasure of DEI Efforts." Academic Medicine, 2024. |
| Hsu D, Rassbach C, Leaming-Van Zandt K, Morrow A, Rubenstein J, Tatem A, Turner DA, Poitevien P, Barone MA. "Competency based medical education and trust in the learning environment." Current problems in pediatric and adolescent health care, 2024, pp. 101640. |
| Humphrey, Holly J., Blumenthal, David, Poitevien, Patricia. "Enhancing Clinical Learning Environments: Strategies to Foster Belonging in Graduate Medical Education." Academic Medicine, 2024. |
| Turner DA, Poitevien P. "Foreword: Preparing future pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists: Competency-based medical education - Part 2." Current problems in pediatric and adolescent health care, 2024, pp. 101676. |
| Turner DA, Poitevien P. "Foreword: Preparing future pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists: Competency-Based Medical Education-Part 1." Current problems in pediatric and adolescent health care, 2024, pp. 101639. |
| Gustafson S, Gilliam C, Poitevien P. "Impact of Racism on the Diversification of the Pediatric Workforce." Academic Pediatrics, vol. 24, no. 7S, 2024, pp. S189-S195. |
| Aylor M, Poitevien P, Pitt MB. "Valuable Papers: A Year in (Re)View From the Association of Pediatric Program Directors." Academic Pediatrics, vol. 24, no. 6, 2024, pp. 889-892. |
| Chieco D, Poitevien P. "We've Got Your Back:" The Role for Faculty in Easing Moral Distress for Residents." Pediatrics, vol. 151, no. 6, 2023. |
| Aylor M, Poitevien P, Pitt MB. "Annual Vision Check: A 2022 Year in (Re)View from the APPD." Academic Pediatrics, vol. 23, no. 2, 2023, pp. 233-235. |
| Vera Cruz A, Diaz J, Guthrie T, Garcia D, Poitevien P. "The Office of Belonging, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in The Warren Alpert Medical School: Aligning Goals, Programming, and Outcomes for Health Equity." Rhode Island medical journal (2013), vol. 106, no. 9, 2023, pp. 9-13. |
| Yemane L, Kas-Osoka O, Burns A, Blankenburg R, Prakash LK, Poitevien P, Schwartz A, Lucas CT, Marbin J. "Upholding Our PROMISE: Underrepresented in Medicine Pediatric Residents' Perspectives on Interventions to Promote Belonging." Academic Medicine, 2023. |
| Ojugbele O, Poitevien P. "A novel Health Disparities Index and acute asthma management." The Journal of Pediatrics, vol. 245, 2022, pp. 246-249. |
| Yemane L, Omoruyi E, Poitevien P, Blankenburg R. "AIMS: Increasing Diversity in Graduate Medical Education Leadership." Journal of Graduate Medical Education, vol. 14, no. 3, 2022, pp. 340-342. |
| Unaka NI, Winn A, Spinks-Franklin A, Poitevien P, Trimm F, Nuncio Lujano BJ, Turner DA. "An Entrustable Professional Activity Addressing Racism and Pediatric Health Inequities." Pediatrics, vol. 149, no. 2, 2022. |
| Osinubi, Adeiyewunmi (Ade), Lewis-de los Angeles, C. Paula, Poitevien, Patricia, Topor, Lisa Swartz. "Are Black Girls Exhibiting Puberty Earlier? Examining Implications of Race-Based Guidelines." Pediatrics, vol. 150, no. 2, 2022. |
| Myers RE, Thoreson L, Howell HB, Poitevien P, Wroblewski MB, Ponitz K, Lewis J. "Three Years of X + Y Scheduling: Longitudinal Assessment of Resident and Faculty Perceptions." Academic Pediatrics, vol. 22, no. 7, 2022, pp. 1097-1104. |
| Poitevien P. "Foreword: Racism and its impact on the learning environment." Current problems in pediatric and adolescent health care, vol. 51, no. 10, 2021, pp. 101086. |
| Myers, Ross E., Thoreson, Lynn, Howell, Heather B., Weedon, Kathryn, Bevington, Joyce, Poitevien, Patricia, Wroblewski, Mary Beth, Ponitz, Keith, Lewis, Joanna. "Impact of X+Y Scheduling on Pediatric Resident and Faculty Perceptions of Education and Patient Care." Academic Pediatrics, 2021. |
| Poitevien, Patricia, Blankenburg, Rebecca. "It’s Not You, It’s Us." Pediatrics, 2021, pp. e2021050884. |
| Gustafson S, Poitevien P, Acholonu R, Blankenburg R, Fromme HB. "Opportunities for Mitigating Bias in the Process and Priorities for Pediatric Chief Resident Selection." Academic Pediatrics, vol. 22, no. 2, 2021, pp. 319-323. |
| Trevino R, Poitevien P. "Professional identity formation for underrepresented in medicine learners." Current problems in pediatric and adolescent health care, vol. 51, no. 10, 2021, pp. 101091. |
| Honcoop AC, Poitevien P, Kerns E, Alverson B, McCulloh RJ. "Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Bronchiolitis Management in Free-Standing Children's Hospitals." Academic Emergency Medicine, 2021. |
| Blankenburg R, Gonzalez Del Rey J, Aylor M, Frohna JG, McPhillips H, Myers RE, Waggoner-Fountain LA, Degnon L, Poitevien P. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Pediatric Graduate Medical Education: Lessons Learned and Pathways Forward." Academic Medicine, 2021. |
| Poitevien P, Blankenburg R, Pitt MB. "Vision Check: A Year in (Re)View from the APPD." Academic Pediatrics, vol. 22, no. 1, 2021, pp. 3-5. |
| Blankenburg, Rebecca, Poitevien, Patricia, Gonzalez del Rey, Javier, Aylor, Megan, Frohna, John, McPhillips, Heather, Waggoner-Fountain, Linda, Degnon, Laura. "Dismantling Racism: APPD's Commitment to Action." Academic Pediatrics, 2020. |
| Siff EJ, Aghagoli G, Gallo Marin B, Tobin-Tyler E, Poitevien P. "SARS-CoV-2 transmission: a sociological review." Epidemiology and Infection, vol. 148, 2020, pp. e242. |
| Dreyer BP, Trent M, Anderson AT, Askew GL, Boyd R, Coker TR, Coyne-Beasley T, Fuentes-Afflick E, Johnson T, Mendoza F, Montoya-Williams D, Oyeku SO, Poitevien P, Spinks-Franklin AAI, Thomas OW, Walker-Harding L, Willis E, Wright JL, Berman S, Berkelhamer J, Jenkins RR, Kraft C, Palfrey J, Perrin JM, Stein F. "The Death of George Floyd: Bending the Arc of History Toward Justice for Generations of Children." Pediatrics, vol. 146, no. 3, 2020. |
| Blankenburg, Rebecca, Poitevien, Patricia, Gonzalez del Rey, Javier, Degnon, Laura. "Virtual Cafes: An Innovative Way for Rapidly Disseminating Educational Best Practices and Building Community During COVID-19." Academic Pediatrics, vol. 20, no. 6, 2020, pp. 756-757. |
| Pitt, Michael B., Poitevien, Patricia, Blankenburg, Rebecca. "Vision 2020: A Year in (Re)View From the Association of Pediatric Program Directors." Academic Pediatrics, 2020. |
| Chieco, Deanna, Chen, Xuxin, Thabit, Christina, Kariuki, Elizabeth, Goonan, Michael, Coble-Sadaphal, Chanelle, Famiglietti, Hannah, Howell, Heather, Poitevien, Patricia. "41. THE EFFECT OF AN ACADEMIC HALF DAY CURRICULUM ON ITE SCORES AND RESIDENT SATISFACTION WITH BOARD PREPARATION." Academic Pediatrics, vol. 19, no. 6, 2019, pp. e19-e20. |
| Poitevien P, Osman C. "Tackling Implicit and Explicit Bias Through Objective-Structured Teaching Exercises (OSTEs) for Faculty." Journal of Graduate Medical Education, vol. 10, no. 3, 2018, pp. 353-4. |
| Rosenberg RE, Ardalan K, Wong W, Patel S, Gold-von Simson G, Feldman D, Lonner B, Petrizzo A, Poitevien P, Gertz SJ, Dreyer B. "Postoperative spinal fusion care in pediatric patients: Co-management decreases length of stay." Bulletin of the Hospital for Joint Disease (2013), vol. 72, no. 3, 2014, pp. 197-203. |
My research agenda sits at the intersection of medical education, health equity, and institutional change. Grounded in my clinical experience as a pediatric hospitalist and shaped by decades of leadership in graduate medical education, my work asks a fundamental question: how do we build medical education systems that produce excellent, equitable physicians while ensuring that the learners who train within them — regardless of race, background, or identity — are supported to succeed? My scholarship spans four interconnected domains: belonging and professional identity formation for underrepresented in medicine (UIM) learners, competency-based medical education (CBME), racism in the clinical learning environment, and pediatric health disparities.
My research agenda sits at the intersection of medical education, health equity, and institutional change. Grounded in my clinical experience as a pediatric hospitalist and shaped by decades of leadership in graduate medical education, my work asks a fundamental question: how do we build medical education systems that produce excellent, equitable physicians while ensuring that the learners who train within them — regardless of race, background, or identity — are supported to succeed? My scholarship spans four interconnected domains: belonging and professional identity formation for underrepresented in medicine (UIM) learners, competency-based medical education (CBME), racism in the clinical learning environment, and pediatric health disparities.
Belonging and Professional Identity Formation for Underrepresented in Medicine Learners
A central focus of my research is understanding how UIM learners navigate medical training environments that were not designed with them in mind. Through the PROMISE (Providing Med-Ed Insight into Supportive Environments) study — a multi-institutional, national research collaboration — my team has investigated UIM pediatric residents' experiences with discrimination, burnout, belonging, professional fulfillment, and career intentions. Our work has demonstrated that increased representation alone is insufficient to foster belonging, and that discrimination and lack of belonging meaningfully and negatively influence residents' desire to remain at their training institutions. These findings, published in Academic Medicine, Medical Education, and the Journal of Pediatrics, have directly informed national conversations about recruitment, retention, and the design of residency training environments.
Complementing this work, I have contributed scholarship on professional identity formation for UIM learners, examining how trainees from underrepresented backgrounds construct their identities as physicians within systems that may simultaneously marginalize them. This work has practical implications for how programs structure mentorship, advising, and curricular experiences for UIM trainees.
Competency-Based Medical Education
My second major area of scholarship focuses on competency-based medical education (CBME) as both a framework for training excellence and a potential lever for advancing equity in assessment and advancement. As Chair of the American Board of Pediatrics Subcommittee on CBME and Project Lead for the General Pediatrics Entrustable Professional Activities (EPA) Revision Working Group, I have translated scholarship into national policy and practice. My research in this domain has examined the relationship between EPA-based assessments at graduation and performance on initial certifying examinations, trust in the learning environment as a prerequisite for effective CBME implementation, and the challenges programs face in advancing, graduating, and attesting readiness for residents with performance concerns. This body of work, published in Pediatrics and Current Problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care, contributes to an emerging evidence base for how CBME can be implemented rigorously and equitably across diverse training contexts.
Racism in the Clinical Learning Environment
A third strand of my scholarship addresses racism as a structural force within medical education and the clinical learning environment. I have contributed to the development of an Entrustable Professional Activity specifically addressing racism and pediatric health inequities — work that represents a novel integration of anti-racist principles into a competency-based framework, published in Pediatrics. Additional scholarship has examined microaggressions in graduate medical education, bias in chief resident selection, the erasure of DEI efforts within academic medicine, and the role of faculty in mitigating moral distress for residents navigating racist environments. Collectively, this work argues that racism is not merely a social backdrop to medical training but an active structural determinant of learning, assessment, and career outcomes — and that addressing it requires the same academic rigor we apply to any other educational intervention.
Pediatric Health Disparities
My earliest research examined racial and ethnic disparities in clinical care, with a particular focus on bronchiolitis management in freestanding children's hospitals, early puberty guidelines and their racial implications, and the use of health disparities indices in acute asthma management. This clinical scholarship informs my educational research by grounding it in the real-world consequences of a medical workforce that lacks diversity and cultural humility — and by connecting the dots between who trains in our institutions and the quality of care delivered to the patients they will serve.
Dissemination and Impact
My research has been disseminated through peer-reviewed publications in leading journals including Academic Medicine, Pediatrics, Medical Education, Journal of Graduate Medical Education, and JAMA Network Open, as well as through national and international presentations, grand rounds lectures, and workshops. I have been recognized for this work through election to the National Academy of Distinguished Educators in Pediatrics and the American Pediatric Society. I served as Guest Editor for Academic Medicine's Josiah Macy Catalyst Award Special Issue on equity in the GME clinical learning environment, published in December 2024. I serve as Associate Editor of Current Problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care and as a co-editor of Graduate Medical Education in Pediatrics — the authoritative reference volume that addresses both the foundational elements of pediatrics residency training and the emerging innovations shaping its future.
Looking Forward
My research agenda continues to evolve in response to the urgent challenges facing medical education and the broader higher education landscape. Current and emerging areas of focus include the scalability of belonging interventions across institutions, the intersection of CBME and equity in assessment, and the systemic conditions — within both academic medicine and higher education — that determine whether institutions can fulfill their stated commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion. I am committed to research that is not only rigorous and publishable, but that moves institutions toward meaningful, measurable change.
Association of Pediatric Program Directors Special Projects Grant
Providing Med-Ed Insight into Supportive Environments (ProMISE) Study Exploring UIM Residents’ Perceptions about Resources Addressing Belonging, Wellness, Burnout and Professional Goals (BeWell-BP)
Private
2020-2022
$10,000
Co-Investigator
Association of Pediatric Program Directors Special Projects Grant
Building Comfort in the Uncomfortable: Teaching Pediatric Trainees Skills in Identifying and Addressing Microaggressions in the Clinical Learning Environment using Simulation Methodology
Private
2022-2024
$10,000
Co-Investigator
The Bill Wood Foundation
Brown Health Community Engaged Translational Research Core (BH-CEnTRC) to steward meaningful relationships with community partners while increasing capacity for researchers and community members to engage in innovative and translational community engaged research.
Private
2024-2026
$400,000
PI
The Josiah Macy Foundation
Brown Advocates for Social Change and Equity Mentor Champion Program
Private
2025-2026
$100,000
Co-PI
Invited Presentations
Abstracts
Workshops
| Year | Degree | Institution |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | MSc | New York University |
| 1998 | MD | Alpert Medical School, Brown University |
| 1994 | BA | Brown University |
Frauenthal Honoree for Outstanding Contributions and Humanitarian Service, New York University Langone Health 2010
Positive Champion of the Learning Environment, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University 2020
Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University 2021
Dean’s Excellence in Teaching Award, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University 2021
Barbara Ross-Lee, DO Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award (Presented to Association of Pediatric Program Directors; Accepted on behalf of APPD as President), Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education 2023
National Academy of Distinguished Educators in Pediatrics, Academic Pediatric Association 2023
American Pediatric Society 2024
Brown University
Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Hasbro Children's Hospital
Association of Pediatric Program Directors
American Board of Pediatrics
American Pediatric Society
National Academy of Distinguished Educators in Pediatrics
American Academy of Pediatrics
| Medical License R | State of Rhode Island | 2018- | #16407 |
| Vice President of Campus Life. Brown Unviersity, 2025- |
| Senior Associate Dean, DEI. Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, 2022-2025 |
| Chair, Subcommittee on Competency Based Medical Education. American Board of Pediatrics, 2021-2026 |
| Associate Editor. Current Problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care, 2021-2026 |
| Assistant Dean, Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs. The Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University, 2018-2022 |
| Residency Program Director. Hasbro Children's Hospital & Brown University, 2018-2022 |
Lecturer
Race and Medicine
Gateways to Medicine
Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
8/2021, 7/2023
Lecturer
Community Engaged Research
Summer Basic Translational Research Course (T35)
Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
6/2023
Lecturer
Race and Medicine
Health Systems Science Course
Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
8/2020, 8/2021, 8/2023
Coordinator and Lecturer - Social Justice Curriculum
Race as a Social Determinant of Health
Race and the UTI Calculator
Pediatric Residency Program, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Hasbro Children’s Hospital, 2019-2022
Lecturer, Osteomyelitis
Noon Conference
Pediatric Residency Program, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Hasbro Children’s Hospital, 2018-2021
Lecturer, Scoliosis
Noon Conference
Pediatric Residency Program, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Hasbro Children’s Hospital, 2018-2021
Lecturer, Child with a limp
Morning Report
Pediatric Residency Program, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Hasbro Children’s Hospital, 2018-2020
Coordinator and Lecturer - Professionalism Curriculum
Pediatric Residency Program, NYU School of Medicine, 2015 – 2018
