Texas residency programs awarded
for child immunization efforts

Two Texas residency programs, the Waco Family Medicine Residency Program and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Family Medicine Residency Program, have been named winners of 2008 AAFP Foundation Wyeth Immunization Awards.

These awards recognize residency programs that have benefited their communities by identifying and creating new and creative solutions to solve childhood immunization problems. Winners were selected by a panel appointed by the AAFP Foundation.

The Waco Family Residency Program won the award under the Best Practices category that recognizes overall achievement of existing systems to address immunization barriers and achieve high rates within a certain time frame, according to award specifications. The Waco Family Residency Program updated their electronic health record and set it to generate daily immunization compliance reports, which highlight missed opportunities for immunizations, and print monthly recall letters to remind parents when their children are due for well-child visits. The program also implemented a system to ensure the nurses check the immunization status of every child at every visit.

The UTHSCSA Family Medicine Residency Program won the Implement New System Grant to be used for a new system to help increase immunization rates for underserved children. The program, in which 90 percent of patients are socio-economically underserved, proposes to implement online vaccination reporting, a reminder system for child vaccines, an incentive program for parents and improvements in immunization administration.

Winners of the awards receive $5,000 or $10,000, depending on their rank of application, an education scholarship for $1,000 to send a resident to the AAFP National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students, and a plaque of recognition. The top six winners also receive an additional travel scholarship to send a resident to the AAFP Scientific Assembly.