Wendy L. Hunter is a pediatrician.

How the internet broke the doctor-parent trust

Conditions
September 14, 2025

I have been a pediatrician for over two decades. I have seen trends come and go: juice boxes demonized, co-sleeping debated, and screen time limits revised. But nothing has reshaped the pediatrician-parent relationship more profoundly than one thing: the internet.

These days, I do not just answer questions; I navigate a misinformation minefield.

It is common now for parents to walk into my exam room not seeking guidance, but ready for a …

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How the internet broke the doctor-parent trust

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

Conditions
July 29, 2023

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 she returned from lunch. Not knowing what to do, she opened our clinic door and called for help. Our front office staff summoned the doctors from our …

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

Screening for adverse childhood experiences in pediatric primary care made my job easier

Conditions
January 3, 2022

When our pediatric clinic added the PEARLS (Pediatric ACEs and Related Life-events Screener) questionnaire to well-child visits, we were worried that we would uncover trauma that we didn’t know how to address. Our physicians feared that the volume of patients with high scores would be overwhelming. We contended that this additional work was impossible because we don’t have support services like counseling. Beyond that, we expected our patients would be …

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Screening for adverse childhood experiences in pediatric primary care made my job easier

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

Physician
February 11, 2019

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 with their symptoms, I couldn’t do anything about the reasons they were in the ED at 3 a.m. These kids don’t have reliable transportation to get …

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

How to win patients and vaccinate people

Conditions
May 22, 2015

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We physicians have long labored under the belief that if we provide objective data about the safety and efficacy of vaccines we can change anti-vaxxers’ minds. But political scientist Brendan Nyhan, Ph.D. has shown that directly addressing patients’ concerns about vaccines does little to change their decision to immunize. And he’s probably right. Other research examining the effects of education …

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How to win patients and vaccinate people