News

The Utah Department of Health is seeking physician representation on two state Child Care Licensing Committees: the Residential Child Care Licensing Advisory Committee and the Child Care Center Licensing Committee. The committees are an opportunity for clinicians to assist the Utah Department of Health in maintaining high quality child care delivery while gaining knowledge into child care issues. There…

The MMI is designed to assess communication skills, specifically verbal and nonverbal skills that cannot be measured by standardized exams or transcripts. The  MMI typically consists of four very short interviews pertaining to the following Teamwork & Professionalism; Compassion & Service Orientation; Motivation, Preparedness for Medicine & Personal Awareness; and  Social & Cultural Awareness. Volunteers…

THOMAS WEIDA, MD, FAAFP, AND JANE WEIDA, MD, FAAFP On Nov. 2, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gave the final OK on Pfizer’s low-dose COVID vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, following the Oct. 29 emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In late October,…

Pfizer Vaccines US Medical Affairs will be hosting Immunization Site Training Sessions for All Providers on the Storage, Handling, & Administration for Current & Potential New Formulations of our COVID-19 vaccine (with our partner BioNTech). These sessions will be updated to reflect new information and changes that evolve.  Such updates will be identified at the start of each session and further explained…

Monday, August 23, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finalized the full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for ages 16 and older. While this means it is legally permissible for physicians to administer the vaccine off-label for children ages 11 and younger, who currently have no available vaccine, the American Academy of Pediatrics strongly…

Patient health and safety is of paramount concern during the COVID epidemic. Back-to-school guidelines should be evidence-based and flexible. We have seen a recent surge in COVID-19 cases and Salt Lake County is categorized as High Risk for COVID transmission. In response to increased circulation of the highly transmissible delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus…

By Sarah Woolsey, MD, MPH, FAAFPDirector Family Health and Preparedness, Utah Department of Health After 20-plus years as a family physician, I continue to strive to create communities where all people, all Americans, all Utahans have access to an affordable primary care team and have their health and well-being needs met. I want to share…

Anna Askari, M.D., M.S.B.S., is the resident member of the AAFP Board of Directors. Family physicians are taught to practice the art and science of medicine by caring for patients, their families and communities while fostering trusting relationships. As I consider the current landscape of family medicine, as well as its future direction, I keep coming…

 Source: AAFP Michael Devitt — This year, the Office of Minority Health announced #vaccineready as its theme for National Minority Health Month in April. According to OMH, the objectives of the #vaccineready campaign include confronting misconceptions about vaccines for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases as part of a larger goal to end the pandemic, reduce vaccine hesitancy, and…