The Joy of Trust: Building Trust in Internal Medicine Residency Training
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May 22, 2025
Joy and trust might seem disconnected, but Kwabena Adubofour, MD, FACP, immediate-past chair of Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Department of Internal and Family Medicine and Associate Program Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program, and his team demonstrate that these experiences are intertwined.
With a grant through the Building Trust Through Diversity, Health Care Equity, Inclusion and Diagnostic Excellence in Internal Medicine Training grant program, Dr. Adubofour launched an innovative training program for internal medicine residents. The program is designed to deepen residents’ understanding of health equity issues and foster meaningful partnerships with communities of color through hands-on, applied learning.
The impact has been clear: stronger connections, authentic collaboration, and programmatic growth—laying the foundation for trust and better health outcomes where they’re needed most.
Through a multi-pronged approach, the curriculum engages residents in a range of activities:
- Partnering with community-based organizations, such as El Concilio and the APSARA to participate in patient roundtables where community members share firsthand experiences with the health care system.
- Reading and discussing books about cultural sensitivity in medicine.
- Mentoring students at McKinley Elementary (a school where the majority of students come from communities of color) by providing stethoscopes and teaching students how to check blood pressure – sparking interest in medical careers early on.
- Supporting underrepresented high school students through a collaboration with Decision Medicine, helping guide the next generation of future clinicians.
The response to the program has been overwhelmingly positive.
“The residents expressed the joy they felt to be able to interact with the students and show them that there are future doctors that look like them and they are able to become doctors as well,” Dr. Adubofour shared.
Since its launch, the program has expanded from 10 residents to 30 for the 2024-2025 year, with projected growth on the horizon. The Internal Medicine GME leadership team now aims to develop a sustainable institutional model ensuring that equity, trust, and community connection remain central to medical training.
