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Residents’ Knowledge, Enthusiasm for Vaccines
Open Forum Infect Dis; 2017 Oct; Williams, et al
Residents should receive more education about vaccines, according to a recent survey that included both residents and residency program directors. Investigators found:
- 126 residents and 11 program directors responded to an online survey from the Collaboration for Vaccination Education and Research Team.
- The survey asked about respondents’ familiarity with vaccines and their importance, how comfortable they were in talking to patients and parents, and how they prefer to receive training on vaccines.
- Residents’ familiarity with recommended vaccines increased as they progressed from year to year through residency, but so did their willingness not to give recommended vaccines.
- More than 99% of residents rated MMR and hepatitis B vaccines as highly important while influenzae vaccine was rated at 61% and HPV at 68%.
Citation:
Williams SE, Lewis KO, Lee B, et al. Needs assessment for resident education within the Collaboration for Vaccine Education and Research (CoVER). Open Forum Infect Dis. 2017;4 (Suppl 1):S441-S442. doi:10.1093/ofid/ofx163.1121.
The good news with this study is that the residents felt more confident in their familiarity and knowledge of vaccines over time during residency. The bad news is that the residents did not rate all vaccines as being of the same high importance. This perceived bias presumably also affects their ability to persuade families to receive vaccines that the residents feel are less important. This issue may be a factor in the lower vaccination rates for these particular vaccines. Future educational interventions to improve vaccine knowledge should ensure that this issue is addressed and ameliorated in residency.
-Sarah Rawstron, MB, BS, FAAP, FIDSA
Pediatric Residency Program Director, The Brooklyn Hospital Center, NY
Clinical Associate Professor, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, NY