This year’s Match Day for graduating medical students had the highest number of unfilled pediatrics residency spots in recent years. Fewer pediatricians means fewer pediatric subspecialists. Like too many of our deepest health disparities, this h…
Category: Pediatrics
Childhood obesity in the U.S.: a growing health crisis affecting millions and demanding action from pediatric health care practitioners
Childhood obesity has become a health crisis in the U.S. across all socioeconomic levels. CDC statistics from 2017 through 2020 indicate the following for children and adolescents ages two through 19: Obesity prevalence was 19.7 percent and affected ab…
Words matter: Caring for pain patients with suspected opioid use disorder
“We need an urgent pain consult for patient Lucy Bee in room 5621. She’s a 17-year-old drug addict and is screaming and wanting morphine,” I was told. Lucy Bee is not a real patient, but a composite of patients I have cared for either…
Surviving a manipulative CEO: my experience with gaslighting
The last time I met with “The King,” I wasn’t planning on meeting with him alone. I never would. It was July 2019, and my family was flying to Europe the next day. “The King” is the former hospital president/CEO, hired by …
From overworking to self-care: a pediatric neurologist’s journey [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! In this episode, we welcome Maria Xiang, a pediatric neurologist, join us to share her personal journey and insights on how to remain emotionally present in the midst of life’s challe…
Breaking the cycle of failure in modern medicine
The allopathic medical system has failed me – as a patient, mother, and physician. Like many physician peers, I entered the health care world with grand visions of healing others. I quickly learned during my clinical rotations in medical school t…
The surprising power of Play-Doh in pediatric care: How it’s bringing families together
The power of Play-Doh. This sounds like such an ironic phrase considering the malleability of this childhood favorite. Between several personal trips to the local store, our clinic buying several boxes, and getting donations from one of our amazing thi…
The hidden gems of health care: Unlocking the potential of narrative medicine
“It’s such a shame that you’ve got all this data, and it goes unpublished … others need to benefit from our results!” This statement is often repeated, in different forms, across all medicine departments, about the abundance of …
Changing the pediatric care landscape: Integrating behavioral and mental health care
One in five children and adolescents will receive a behavioral or mental health diagnosis by 18. That is more than the number of women diagnosed with breast cancer (1 in 8). According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 50 perce…
Breaking the cycle of childhood obesity
Every specialty has its burden, and pediatric endocrinology’s is obesity. Primary care providers refer because they or the child’s parents suspect the cause is hormonal. It almost never is. The overly adipose child invariably has, using old…
