Category: Pediatrics

Why you should vaccinate your kids

I am definitely getting my daughter vaccinated, and I acknowledge a minimal risk. Here is my reasoning, and perhaps this can help your family decide to get the vaccine for the kids in your family, too. Coronavirus is going to be with us for a long time…

Physicians have gone from being heroes to villains [PODCAST]

“I am exhausted and sad and disappointed and discouraged. I am losing faith in humanity. Where is the ‘love your neighbor as yourself’? Where is the willingness to help each other? Where is the solidarity of those first days? Physicia…

The success of Australian firearms regulation: What it could mean for children

An article in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2018 noted the sad milestone that firearms were causing 15% of all deaths in children and adolescents. Somewhat encouraging, a later study showed states with stricter firearm laws correlated with low…

The pediatricians are not alright

In the past week alone, I have heard the following comments from pediatricians on the front lines: “I’ve been practicing for 21 years, and I’ve never seen things this bad”; “I have been called uncaring because my patient had to wait an hour. But I coul…

A shift from the medical perspective of disability to a mother’s perspective

An excerpt from Catastrophic Rupture: A Memoir of Healing. The spark just scarcely lit in Jo had vanished; I had seen no sign of awareness since the spasms began the night before. Having just edged over the threshold into what I considered a reasonable…

Why pediatricians think about COVID differently

Earlier this summer, the American Academy of Pediatrics made recommendations that contrasted with those from the CDC, emphasizing the need to do everything possible to prevent COVID infection in children. Specifically, they recommended that even vaccin…

Self-harm and eating disorders in teens

An excerpt from The Addicted Child: A Parent’s Guide to Adolescent Substance Abuse. How do you know if your teen has a substance problem? The inability to control substance use despite negative consequences is a classic definition of a severe sub…

Treating formula as medicine may increase breastfeeding rates

Currently, there is an outcry against the pressures of breastfeeding, with an underlying backlash against the stigma of bottle feeding. Commercials from formula companies, such as Bobbie, are playing at the hearts of struggling breastfeeding mothers. T…

How becoming a mother made me a pediatrician

For years, I hated when patients would ask if I had children. I consider myself to be a good pediatrician and trained at a highly rated medical school and residency. I work hard and I care for my patients. I can, however, be socially awkward and did no…

Physicians have gone from being heroes to villains

I am exhausted. Mentally, emotionally, physically. I fear we are reaching our breaking point. We have run a marathon, hoping that we were nearing the finish line as we saw numbers decline in June, only to be told to lace up our sneakers and start over….