An Evaluation of Immunization Education Resources by Family Medicine Residency Directors

Background and Objectives: Immunization is a rapidly evolving field, and teachers of family medicine are responsible for ensuring that they and their students are knowledgeable about the latest vaccine recommendations. Methods: A survey was mailed to 456 family medicine residency directors across the United States to obtain their evaluation of immunization resources developed by the Society of Teachers of family Medicine's Group on Immunization Education. Frequencies, measures of central tendency, and differences between responses from 2001 to 2005 were analyzed. Results: Directors of 261 (57%) family medicine residencies responded, with >80% reporting satisfaction with immunization teaching resources. The popularity of bound resources decreased from 2001 to 2005, while immunization Web sites increased in importance. The journal supplement, "Vaccines Across the Lifespan, 2005" was less frequently read in 2005 than its predecessor published in 2001, but quality ratings remained high. Use of the Web site, www.ImmunizationEd.org, and the Shots software for both desktop and handheld computers has increased since their creation. Conclusions: Electronic immunization teaching resources are increasingly popular among family medicine residencies. As the field continues to change, the use of electronic resources is expected to continue, since they are easily updated and, in the case of www.ImmunizationEd.org and Shots software, are available free of charge.