With Tarrant County facing lower vaccination rates, students at the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine (TCOM) at UNT Health are leading in their community with grants from Texas Medical Association’s Vaccines Defend What Matters program.
Second-year students Sanika Mhatre and Elsa Chittet aim to administer 150 flu vaccines this year through the Refugee Health Initiative (RHI), a student-run center that provides healthcare and basic necessities for those getting settled in Texas. Starting with just 100 vaccines in 2022, they aim to hit 150 for the fourth straight year.
“We found there’s a large number of individuals experiencing homelessness in Tarrant County and in Fort Worth,” said Ms. Mhatre, raised in Katy and vice president of TCOM’s TMA Medical Student Section chapter. “A lot of these individuals also have chronic conditions that can increase or lead to complications of the flu that we want to avoid.”
Together, TCOM and RHI work to organize health fairs offering flu vaccinations, reading glasses, enrollment help with medication assistance programs, women’s health education, and patient care coordination with a local hospital.
The students are also extending vaccine access to other UNT Health programs, such as the TMA-affiliated Walk with a Doc.
“The flu vaccine is something the patients regularly ask for year to year, and so through TMA’s grants that are funded for us, it’s something we look forward to providing for our patients,” said Ms. Chittet, an American Medical Association delegate for TCOM’s TMA student section chapter.
Ms. Chittet, originally from Sugar Land, works with UNT Health’s HOME Clinic, which provides HIV screenings and dental and vision services to individuals in the East Lancaster area of Fort Worth. Fellow second-year students Joanna Liu and Ridwan Oyebamiji have also been instrumental in administering the programs, Ms. Mhatre says.
From left: Joanna Liu, Elsa Chittet, Sanika Mhatre, Avery Arsenault, Olivia Lyster.
Their work comes at a time when Tarrant County school immunization data from the Texas Department of State Health Services show kindergarten coverage at below the 95% threshold considered necessary for herd immunity against hepatitis, measles, and polio.
Maria Crompton, DO, an assistant professor in family medicine and osteopathic manipulative medicine at TCOM, has been assisting Ms. Mhatre and Ms. Chittet.
“Seeing them take the reins and bring so much energy to this initiative, it’s really inspiring,” Dr. Crompton said.
For physicians and medical students weighing their own VDWM grant application, Ms. Mhatre said “go for it.”
“Yes, it takes some effort to write the application and all that, but the communities that can be impacted, in the end, it’s just all worth it,” she said.
TMA’s Vaccines Defend What Matters is funded in 2026 by the TMA Foundation thanks to major support from H-E-B, TMF Health Quality Institute, and gifts from other institutions, physicians and their families.
The next Vaccines Defend What Matters application window opens Dec. 7, with first-round applications due Feb. 12, 2027. See the Vaccines Defend What Matters webpage for details.