Category: Pediatrics

Heart health begins in childhood: 5 tips from a pediatrician

Heart health starts in childhood to avoid cardiovascular disease, hypertension, obesity, and diabetes. Kids today have developed so many bad health habits that they are facing heart attacks in their 30s. Many experts predict they will be the first gene…

6 easy hacks from a pediatrician to make healthier kids’ lunches

You may have noticed your child seems to be bored of their bag lunch and most of it being brought back home or dumped in the garbage. Lunch is an important meal to get kids the energy they need to get through the second half of the school day. Strive t…

A physician walks into the homes and lives of disadvantaged families. Here’s what she learned.

I lost my sense of empathy when I worked as a pediatrician in a pediatric emergency department caring primarily for low-acuity patients. I worked there for ten years, but it only took about three years before I realized that while I could help kids wit…

A physician leaves her practice and finds beauty in the struggle

My story makes even the hardened among us cringe … but I am not here to tell you that story. My real story begins after. In order to stand up for my values, I recently walked away from a booming practice. What I had built felt sacred to me, almos…

When this doctor and mom stopped breastfeeding

My husband recently found a bag of breast milk in the freezer as he scrounged for dinner ingredients. This milk was pumped over four years ago for my third baby who turns five next week. Just like I did for her older siblings, I religiously pumped brea…

How to say “no” to kids

Do you feel like you’re always saying “no” to your child and not getting the response from them that you are looking for? Do you end up repeating yourself over and over, so frustrated you begin to yell or just given in to your toddler’s demands? …

How an insurance company auditor tried to destroy a physician’s career

It’s no secret that in today’s health care market, insurance companies are calling the shots. As a pediatrician in private practice for almost two decades, I’ve seen insurance companies transform into perhaps the single most powerful player in today’s …

The unsung heroes of sick kids

Chances are that if you have kids, you’ve had at least one unplanned visit to the hospital. Taking care of children in the emergency department (ED) is a special challenge for many reasons including the fact that the child’s parents don’t choose to see…

The measles outbreak, media imagery, and the thoughtful focus of fear

A rapidly escalating measles outbreak near Portland, OR has led local health officials to declare a public health emergency, with 44 confirmed cases, almost all in unimmunized children, almost all of them in unimmunized children. Meanwhile, New York an…

When a child dies, this pediatrician grieves

I found his obituary today. Kids do not always have obituaries. I am not sure why. Perhaps it is because children are not supposed to die and no one quite knows what to say. Still, I always look for them. He loved the color green. His death was so unex…