Texas Parent to Parent

Conference & Training: MEd

“I have been impressed with the delivery of chronic care program (MEd- Austin) in terms of the volunteers who make up the speaker’s panel and do the presentations. They present in an effective articulate manner and clearly reached the medical care providers in gaining their interest in this area.”

-Dr. George Sharpe, Neonatalogist

Medical Education Program (MEd.)

In response to a growing population of children with chronic illness and developmental disabilities who are living at home and actively participating in our communities, Texas Parent to Parent (TxP2P) has created the MEd program to give medical residents a more complete understanding of what life with a child with special health care needs is like. The goal of MEd is to give Pediatric and Family Practice Residents and other medical professionals a comprehensive understanding of life for a family of a child with chronic illness or disability, and to teach them the skills they need to work in partnership with the family to provide high quality care.

Trained, experienced Family Faculty facilitate the training for the residents. MEd Parent Coordinators recruit and train Family Faculty and develop, with the hospital, a schedule for each resident to participate in a home visit and other components. Most residents also attend a Parent Panel Presentation and Resource Noon Talk. These activities give the resident first-hand experience in the day-to-day life of the child and family.

TxP2P maintains MEd programs at Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas (Pediatric) and Blackstock Clinic (Family Practice) in the Seton Healthcare Network in Austin, Scott & White Hospital (Pediatric) in Temple, Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children (Pediatric), and the Texas Tech Health Science Center (Pediatric) in Amarillo.

Download the MEd Fact Sheet which shares how to start a program at your facility.

If you are interested in adding MEd to your residency program, contact Debbie Wiederhold at Debbie@TxP2P.org. If you are a parent and would like to get involved in training residents, please read more about how to volunteer.