Category: Pediatrics

How early intervention can transform a child’s speech development

The American Academy of Pediatrics’ recent decision to move away from the “wait and see” philosophy to a more proactive intervention when dealing with childhood obesity got me reflecting on how “wait and see” is still used…

Adolescent medicine at risk [PODCAST]

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! Join Meredithe McNamara, a pediatrician and adolescent medicine specialist, in discussing the challenges adolescent medicine physicians face due to the current political climate. We explore…

How a teenager with seizures became the face of trauma-informed care

A teenage girl was found alone, having a seizure on a bench outside our clinic’s front door. She had never been inside our clinic, but it was our fault she was seizing. The office manager from the dentist’s office upstairs found the girl as…

The surprising impact of medical students on patients

There are a few clinical scenarios that stand out to me from my undergraduate medical education. I completed a combined MD/MPH program, and I remember coming back from the year of public health, inserted between years two and three of medical school, f…

Closing the empathy gap in health care [PODCAST]

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! Nicole Rochester is a pediatrician and advocate for improving the doctor-patient relationship. She shares her personal experiences and discusses the importance of intentional human connecti…

Gender-neutral registration for unresponsive individuals

When registering individuals who are unresponsive to stimuli, unconscious, unaware, or lacking alertness, it has been customary to assign them the names John Doe or Jane Doe, based on physical characteristics, while also assigning their sex accordingly…

An elder mentor’s message to new medical students

For 21 years, I have had the privilege and honor of coaching and mentoring medical students. Most of this mentoring takes place in my outpatient internal medicine-pediatrics practice, where each student spends two to three days with me every week for a…

5 tips for ending office visits on time

The visit is winding down. You’re getting ready to go, hand on the doorknob, saying goodbye. And then you hear, “Doc, one more thing.” Or perhaps you’re more familiar with the patient who has a laundry list of issues all to be a…

Can minors truly consent to reversible puberty blockers in gender-affirming health care?

Gender-affirming health care (GAH) is a rapidly developing sector within the medical profession that can include indirect therapies such as counseling, direct therapies such as hormone treatments, puberty blockers, or gender-affirming surgeries. A main…

Navigating youth mental health [PODCAST]

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! Join us for an insightful podcast episode with guest Eliza Humphreys, a pediatrician and certified life coach, as we explore the challenges faced by young teens and their families in naviga…