Category: Pediatrics

The problem of overdiagnosis: What can patients do?

An interesting article in the journal Pediatrics is both intriguing and sobering. It is intriguing because it lays bare something we don’t talk much about or teach our students about; it is sobering because it describes the potential harm that can come…

When physicians inappropriately judge

All physicians naturally make judgments regarding the parents they are interviewing. For example, we assess how accurate and plausible their history is. We try to decide if they are telling us the whole story and, if not, if they are inadvertently or d…

Improving health outcomes for children requires us to look at the big picture

It was a simple chief complaint: sore throat and fever. As expected, the little girl’s rapid Strep was positive. Instructions given. Antibiotics sent. This was Peds 101. But for some reason, before mom walked out the door, she made mention of their sta…

Don’t make me choose between motherhood and my career

A debate highlighting gender discrimination in medicine currently rages within the pediatric hospitalist medicine community. The debate centers on the board certification process for “grandfathering” for the new pediatric hospitalist subspe…

Breastfeeding is best, but why do some countries struggle?

Breastfeeding provides ideal food for the healthy growth and development of infants; it is also an integral part of the reproductive process with important implications for the health of mothers. Breastfeeding has numerous health benefits for both the …

Toy magnets need to be banned for good

Over the course of little more than a month, we removed 54 tiny toy magnets from the digestive systems of four children. They were lucky: Despite invasive procedures and operations to repair holes in their intestines, their injuries were treated in tim…

Someone who is both a recalcitrant skeptic and an ardent proponent of childhood vaccines

Amid the contentious dispute over immunization requirements for children, Kelley Watson Snyder stands out: She has been both a recalcitrant skeptic and an ardent proponent of childhood vaccines. Snyder, a Monterey, Calif., mother of two, was a so-calle…

How a collarbone fracture made this physician remember her past

One of my most vivid early memories is from when I broke my collarbone.  In a first-grade relay race, kids were running at top speeds in opposite directions, so it was no surprise that I collided into a classmate.  I was knocked to the ground and cried…

When doctors are right

As I was scrolling through my Facebook feed one morning, I noticed an article with a title starting with: “When Doctors are Wrong” with a picture of a newborn baby with a breathing tube in the NICU. I immediately opened the article and star…

When doctors are right

As I was scrolling through my Facebook feed one morning, I noticed an article with a title starting with: “When Doctors are Wrong” with a picture of a newborn baby with a breathing tube in the NICU. I immediately opened the article and star…