Albert C. Hergenroeder, MD

Personal Statement

I am a board certified specialist in pediatrics, sports medicine and adolescent medicine who has brought a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to the care of adolescents and young adults with a variety of conditions, with special interests in improving the process of safely, effectively and efficiently helping youth and young adults with special health care needs transition from pediatric to adult-based care. I have provided subspecialty adolescent medicine care for youth with chronic illness and disabilities and sports medicine care at Texas Children’s Hospital since 1986.

Organizations and Roles:

As the Founding Chief of the Division of Adolescent Medicine and Sports Medicine, BCM, my philosophy of combining the two specialties into one program was to provide a framework for serving as broad a spectrum of adolescents and young adults (AYA) as possible. This framework addresses traditional health risk behaviors associated with the leading causes of AYA morbidity and mortality, e.g. accidents, suicide, homicide and issues related to reproductive health, while promoting healthy lifestyles including physical activity, and, therefore, blending exercise physiology and sports medicine with adolescent growth and development. Addressing common conditions such as anxiety, obesity, eating disorders and chronic fatigue by incorporating healthy eating and physical activity when appropriate has characterized our Division’s approach to clinical care, research, teaching, public health, and advocacy for 36 years and makes us unique among adolescent medicine programs. I am the Adolescent Medicine Fellowship Director.

I was a founding member of the University Interscholastic League’s (UIL) Medical Advisory Committee in 2010 and remain an active member, advising the UIL on medical issues related to extracurricular activities for students across Texas. I have served as a high school and college team physician for 38 years.

I saw the need to improve the transition from pediatric to adult-based care for AYA with special health care needs and I founded the Annual Baylor Transition Conference, which held its 22nd annual meeting in 2021 and broadcast to over 300 registrants in 36 states, Australia, and Canada. I founded and am Program Director for the Annual Chronic Illness and Disability Conference:

Transition from Pediatric to Adult-Base Care, holding the 20th annual meeting in 2019. The conference is attended by patients, families, and an interdisciplinary spectrum of health care professionals, including pediatricians, family medicine, internal medicine, combined medicine-pediatric physicians, psychiatrists, social workers, nurses, other health care coordinators/navigators, dietitians, psychologists, counselors, hospital and clinic administrators, public health professionals, and community agency representatives (continuing education credits are offered). Attendance at the conference has grown from 65 participants in its inaugural year (2000) to an average of more than 200 participants annually, plus over 500 registrants at broadcast sites, annually, over the last nine years. This conference is broadcast live to interdisciplinary graduate programs and Title V agencies across the U.S. (35 sites in 2022), supported by the Association of University Centers on Disabilities, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine and the Robbins Foundation. It is now coupled with the national Health Care Transition Research Consortium which has chosen to have its annual meeting in conjunction with the transition conference for the 13th consecutive year, bringing the best HCT researchers together to present their work. I have lead the HCT planning efforts at Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH) since 2004. I developed the EHR-based Transition Planning Tool (TPT) which was adopted as an Epic Clinical Program in 2014 and is being used by 21 clinical services at TCH. In 2015, the TPT was selected as a Best Practice by the national Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP).

Clinical Interests

My goal is to provide the best care to adolescents and young adults in an interdisciplinary context. I provide care to adolescents and young adults with a variety of adolescent medicine problems including eating disorders, mental health conditions, menstrual problems and chronic fatigue; and sports medicine problems, including sports medicine problems, including common musculoskeletal injures, concussion, and problems associated with the female athlete triad: bone health, menstrual problems and inadequate nutritional intake.

Education

Organizations

* Texas Children’s Hospital physicians’ licenses and credentials are reviewed prior to practicing at any of our facilities. Sections titled From the Doctor, Professional Organizations and Publications were provided by the physician’s office and were not verified by Texas Children’s Hospital.

Highlights

Wellness May 12, 2015

Chronic Fatigue In Teenagers

Research interests

I have published in peer reviewed literature (see View PubMed Publications, below) with the main topic areas being adolescent medicine, eating disorders, bone health, sports medicine, health care transition and medical education.

As an adolescent medicine physician interested in the health care transition (HCT) from pediatric to adult-based care, I have contributed to the field of HCT over the past 19 years by scientific publications. I was also Co-Editor, Health Care Transition: Building a Program for Adolescents and Young Adults with Chronic Illness and Disability, First Edition, A.C. Hergenroeder & C.M. Wiemann. Springer International AG, 2018.

I have 15 peer-reviewed publications on HCT (out of 90 total peer reviewed publications) and presented 31 abstracts on HCT at national meetings over the past 5 years. I have been a visiting professor/invited speaker to discuss HCT at many local, state and national meetings.

Hergenroeder AC. Prevention of sports injuries. Pediatrics 1998;101(6):1057-1063.

Hergenroeder AC, Chorley JN, Fetterhoff A, Laufman L. Two educational interventions to improve pediatrician’s skills in performing ankle and knee physical examinations, Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2002; 156(3):225-229.

Strong WB, Malina RM, Blimkie CJ, Daniels SR, Dishman RK, Gutin B, Hergenroeder AC.  Must A, Nixon PA, Pivarnik JM, Rowland T, Trost S, Trudeau F. Evidence based physical activity for school-aged youth. J Pediatr, 146(6):732-737, 2005

Gómez JE, Hergenroeder AC. New guidelines for management of concussion in sport: special concern for youth, J of Adolesc Health 53 (2013) 311e313

Hergenroeder, A, Demorest R, Co-Editors. Adolescent Medicine State-of-the-Art Reviews (AM-STARS), AAP, 2015.

Hergenroeder AC, De Souza MJ, Anding RH. The Female Athlete Triad: Energy Deficiency, Physiologic Consequences, and Treatment.  Adolesc Med State Art Review  2015;26 (1) 116-142.

Kristin Ernest, MD, Rebecca Martinie, MD, Sarah Dobkins, RD, CSSD, Albert C. Hergenroeder, MD.  Bone Health of Adolescent Athletes. In Sarah Pitts Catherine M. Gordon , (Eds.) Practical Approach to Adolescent Bone Health, pp 157-178, New York, NY, Springer, 2018.| 

Hergenroeder AC, Wiemann CM, Cohen MB. Current Issues in Transitioning from Pediatric to Adult-Based Care for Youth with Chronic Health Care Needs. J Pediatr. 2015. pii: S0022-3476(15)00861-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2015.08.005. PMID: 26340879. 

Hergenroeder AC, Wiemann CM, Bowman VF. Lessons learned in building a hospital-wide transition program from pediatric to adult-based health care for youth with special health care needs (YSHCN). Int J Adolesc Med Health. 2015 Sep 11. pii: /j/ijamh.ahead-of-print/ijamh-2015-0048/ijamh-2015-0048.xml. doi: 10.1515/ijamh-2015-0048. PMID: 26360495. 

Wiemann CM, Hergenroeder AC. Employing Healthcare Transition Planning Tools. In: AC Hergenroeder and CM Wiemann (Eds.) Health Care Transition: Building a Program for Adolescents and Young Adults with Chronic Illness and Disability, First Edition, A.C. Hergenroeder & C.M. Wiemann, (eds). Springer International AG, 2018: 129-138. 

Wiemann CM, Graham CG, Garland BH, Hergenroeder AC, Raphael JL, Sanchez-Fournier BE, Benavides J, Warren LJ. Development of a group-based, peer-mentor intervention to promote disease self-management skills among youth with chronic medical conditions. J Pediatr Nurs. 2019 Jun 10;48:1-9. doi: 10.1016/j.pedn.2019.05.013. [Epub ahead of print]. PMID:31195183. 

Hergenroeder A, Moodie D, Penny D, Wiemann C, Sanchez-Fournier B, Moore L, Head J. Functional Classification of Heart Failure Before and After Implementing a Health Care Transition Program for Youth and Young Adults Transferring from a Pediatric to an Adult Congenital Heart Disease Clinics, Congenital Heart Dis. 2018 Mar 15. doi: 10.1111/chd.12604. 

Research support in Health Care Transition: (past 5 years) 

HRSA, Innovative Model for Facilitating Adult Services through Transition (AIM FAST) for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN). Award No. 1 D70MC23045-01-00, September 1, 2011-August 31, 2015, PI, $259,500. 

Texas Department of State Health Services, Title V Transition Project, September 1, 2014 – August 31, 2015, PI, $300,000.  Demonstration project to improve the infrastructure of health care transition services. 

Baxter Foundation, Using a Youth-Centered Social Media Communication Platform to Facilitate Transition from Pediatric to Adult-based Health Care for Adolescents and Young Adults with Special Health Care Needs. PI, 04/01/16 - 03/31/18; $100,000. 

HRSA, Project IMPAACT – Innovative Mentor Program for Achieving Autonomy and Competence in Transition, Co-I, April 1, 2017-March 31, 2020; $900,000. 

HRSA, An Intervention to Promote Autonomy and Competence in Transition-Aged Youth (IPACT), PI, July 1, 2020 - June30,2023; $900,000. 

View VIICTR Publications