Training the Multidisciplinary Future of Healthcare About Human Papilloma Virus – a Medical Student Committee Project

Background: Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and its manifestations impact multidisciplinary health fields including pediatrics and dentistry. Many with HPV have no clinical consequences. However, HPV infections with high-risk strains may develop serious clinical sequelae including genital warts, oropharyngeal cancer, and genitourinary cancer. One study suggests a broad lack of public knowledge about HPV’s manifestations with about 70% of US adults not knowing that HPV causes oral, anal, and penile cancers (doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.3105).
Over 30,000 Americans will be diagnosed with oropharyngeal cancer this year. Sadly, Florida has the 9th highest incidence of oral cancers in the USA. Florida ranks 30th in HPV vaccine rates for females and 40th for males. Studies suggest that increasing healthcare provider education on communication about HPV vaccine increases HPV vaccine rates (Doi:10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-15-0326).

Methods: The goal of the Medical Student Committee of Florida’s AAP is the creation of a webinar to train medical and dental students in the state of Florida on HPV.
The objectives of the webinar are enumerated in Figure 1. The goal in the next year is to pilot this webinar in medical and dental schools in Florida. Pre- and post- webinar quizzes may be considered to track usefulness of the webinar in these settings.
The committee also created an educational pamphlet that can be used in the clinical setting to teach patients about HPV, HPV-related cancers, HPV prevention, and HPV vaccine access (Figure 2).
A crucial component of this project, displayed both within the webinar and on the educational pamphlet, is a map of Florida with HPV vaccine access locations. Each county health department in Florida was contacted by phone and/or email up to three times in spring 2021 to obtain information regarding department availability, eligibility, and cost of HPV vaccines.

Results: 77.6% of Florida county health departments were offering HPV vaccines for no/low cost for patients up to age 18. 10.4% offered no/low cost HPV vaccines up to age 26. 4.5% did not currently offer HPV vaccines, and 7.5% were unable to be successfully contacted. This information reflects availability at time of contact and may be subject to change.

Conclusion: A large percentage of Florida county health departments offer HPV vaccines for those up to age 18. This endorses the importance of early education regarding HPV so that much of Florida’s youth can be vaccinated before age 18. Over the next year, the committee will continue its efforts in the completion and expansion of HPV awareness and vaccine advocacy to address both lack of knowledge in the public and increasing provider comfort with discussion of HPV. The future objective is greater understanding and emphasis on HPV prevention in the next wave of medical and dental school graduates.