Children’s health

1,495 articles · Since 2011

Articles, page 27

A subtle change in the parents at a pediatric clinic

Alexander Rakowsky, MD & Gabriella Gonzales, MD

June 5, 2020Jun 5, 2020

Currently, we are in a transition time. Many of us are still healing from the shock brought on by the beginning days of the COVID crisis. While it has been nice to enjoy the warmer weather both from a distance but also amongst friends given the lifting of many social restrictions, life still does not seem “normal.” As human beings, we adapt to our surroundings, and all of us are …

Health policy

Detention facilities cannot respond adequately to this pandemic

Priya Pathak, MD, MPH

June 2, 2020Jun 2, 2020

In the world of pediatrics, my colleagues and I remain vigilant about the threat of coronavirus to children. Every week, we learn more information about new presentations of COVID-19, such as novel inflammatory syndromes. Still, I am hopeful that with supportive home care, good infection control practices, and access to high-quality health care when needed, we can keep children in our communities healthy and safe. However, …

Physician voices

It’s OK to mourn your wedding

Laura M. Even, MD

June 2, 2020Jun 2, 2020

I went through the five stages of grief when we lost our wedding to COVID-19. The denial: “I’m sure this will be over by summer.” The anger: “This is so unfair! I’ve planned this for two years.” The bargaining: “We’ll just push it back to July, no need to go further. That’ll be fine, right?” The depression: *Sobs scrolling through others’ anniversary pictures on Instagram* The acceptance: “So, 2021 it …

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It’s OK to mourn your wedding

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Health policy

The insufferable weight carried by black mothers in America

Ariana Witkin, MD

June 1, 2020Jun 1, 20202

I am not a black mother. I am white. I am a mother. I am also a pediatrician. Every day I work with mothers and their babies—black, brown, and white, as a newborn hospitalist on a busy, urban maternity unit. I know firsthand that the postpartum period is challenging and overwhelming for mothers. Are we making enough breastmilk? Is the baby starving? Will we ever sleep again? How does anybody …

Physician voices

The truth about research: Lessons learned by an aspiring physician-researcher

Sara-Jane Onyeama, MD

May 27, 2020May 27, 2020

Many people looking in on the world of research have perceptions of brilliant minds at work, rapidly putting forth groundbreaking ideas. While they’re not entirely wrong, I discovered that this arena of fascinating new discoveries is not always so rapid…

As a clinical trials research associate, I learned that research is hard. I found that testing and implementing theories and postulations takes time and dedication. I …

Conditions and diseases

Is there a right way to break bad news?

Anthony Orsini, DO

May 24, 2020May 24, 2020

An excerpt from It’s All In The Delivery: Improving Healthcare Starting With A Single Conversation. On that night when the desperate call came to pick up the critically ill baby with MAS, I felt very fortunate that Dr. Cunningham was…

An excerpt from It’s All In The Delivery: Improving Healthcare Starting With A Single Conversation.

On that night when the desperate call came to pick up the critically ill baby with MAS, I felt very fortunate that Dr. Cunningham was my supervisor.

When I arrived at the hospital in New Jersey, it was apparent that the tension in the room was high. At the referring hospital, the baby …

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Is there a right way to break bad news?

Conditions and diseases

A pediatric hematologist explains multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children

Akshat Jain, MD

May 24, 2020May 24, 2020

The recent pandemic has confined people all over the world to the indoors to try to keep the virus from spreading. Older adults have been the most commonly affected age group with the virus, but more recently, a strange presentation…

New York City first reported 15 similar cases that occurred between April 16 and May 4 for the first time in the United States. …

Conditions and diseases

A child psychiatrist’s tips for digital parenting during COVID

Tracy Asamoah, MD

May 24, 2020May 24, 2020

Recently, I was part of a virtual panel discussing ways to help kids and teens manage their digital technology use. The audience, parents from around the world, felt blind-sided about how all of this extra time at home has led…

On top of everything else, this pandemic has dumped on our personal and professional lives as physicians, many of us are also …

Physician voices

Child abuse in the time of COVID

Rebecca C. Whitmire, MD

May 24, 2020May 24, 2020

"I used to only have to deal with him touching me after school — now it's all the time." "She's doing drugs more because she lost her job last week; she started hitting me again." As a pediatrician-in-training, I've been…

“I used to only have to deal with him touching me after school — now it’s all the time.” “She’s doing drugs more because she lost her job last week; she started hitting me again.” As a pediatrician-in-training, I’ve been concerned about my patients’ safety with schools closed, jobs lost, and family stress at all-time highs. As a Crisis Counselor, receiving these messages on recent shifts confirmed my fears that …

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Child abuse in the time of COVID

Physician voices

How the pandemic can bring the family-centered model back to pediatrics

Alexander Rakowsky, MD & Gabriella Gonzales, MD

May 18, 2020May 18, 2020

The devastation inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic both in terms of health and the world economy will continue to be discussed for quite some time. Large numbers of our neighbors have been impacted in these ways. What has also been just as profound is how this pandemic has changed relationships. Corona has greatly impacted our ability to interact in ways that we can all relate to: social isolation, …

Physician voices

A pediatrician’s silver linings during the pandemic

Lauretta Stombaugh, DO

May 17, 2020May 17, 2020

A few weeks ago, while I was still seeing a full schedule of patients and the crisis was just beginning, I asked myself, "How can I reach this little person on the exam table in front of me?" It was…

A few weeks ago, while I was still seeing a full schedule of patients and the crisis was just beginning, I asked myself, “How can I reach this little person on the exam table in front of me?” It was our first meeting. He was deaf and partially blind, neither of those affecting his spirit or ability to draw me in. I’m hearing impaired, and so these littles always have …

Physician voices

Family and medicine: a day in the life during the pandemic

Lisa Sieczkowski, MD

May 14, 2020May 14, 2020

Sunlight creeps through the living room blinds. We have taken to sleeping here now on the giant sectional sofa. Most days, there is no reason to set an alarm. The dog stirs, moves from where he was nestled against one…

My son rolls over, clutching the impulsively purchased Sunday Citizen throw around his bony frame. He is wearing his quarantine uniform – buffalo plaid flannel …

Physician voices

Prioritize the health of children during the pandemic

Renu Boatright, MD

May 7, 2020May 7, 2020

Where are the kids? What are they doing? Are they learning anything? My stomach grows heavy, and my throat clogs. Are they eating? Are they safe? Good Lord, I hope that they are safe. As a pediatrician and as a…

Where are the kids? What are they doing? Are they learning anything? My stomach grows heavy, and my throat clogs. Are they eating? Are they safe? Good Lord, I hope that they are safe.

As a pediatrician and as a mother of two, I regularly scan news articles on COVID for data on children. I see stories that commiserate about the elderly’s isolation and burden of illness,

…

Health policy

How COVID-19 will close pediatric practices

Nidhi Kukreja, MD

May 7, 2020May 7, 20206

The COVID-19 pandemic has turned our lives upside down. It has wreaked havoc on the economy, leaving many jobless, and many industries questioning where their future lies. In my view, it has brought the weak infrastructure of the U.S. health care system to a breaking point. These deficiencies were already present: limited public health prowess, hospitals’ inefficiencies, poor coordination of care, and disjointed health care messages between federal …

Physician voices

How to be a better doctor? Stop being their doctor.

Silvana Barone, MD

May 7, 2020May 7, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it a slew of challenges that were previously unimaginable for many of us. Social isolation, separation from beloved family members, the daily struggle to juggle work, parenting, and teaching in times of economic and generalized uncertainty – these are just some of the difficulties arising from the current situation. Feelings of fear and anxiety stemming from uncertainty are, however, a pre-pandemic reality for some …

Conditions and diseases

From frontlines to sidelined: a resident’s experience on staying positive

Rohith Mohan, MD

May 7, 2020May 7, 2020

On a gorgeous day in early March, I set out on my usual morning commute to clinic. The recent rain had turned the mountains green, there was some fresh snow atop Mount Baldy in the usually dry Inland Empire of Southern California, and the Lakers had just beaten their rival Clippers the preceding weekend. As I drove in to work, I was listening to coverage of the story I had …

Medical education

How this medical student is inspired by pediatrics

Manar Mohammad, MD

May 6, 2020May 6, 2020

I slip through the slightly cracked door. “Knock, knock,” I say, but mom is hidden under the blankets, resting while there are so many of us to take over for her for a tiny bit. In the darkness, I make…

I slip through the slightly cracked door.

“Knock, knock,” I say, but mom is hidden under the blankets, resting while there are so many of us to take over for her for a tiny bit. In the darkness, I make my way to the crib, where a crack of sunlight peers through from the slightly opened blinds and shines onto the little one. She’s breathing, with some difficulty, but breathing. Oxygen …

Conditions and diseases

Eliminating religious exemptions from school vaccination in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic

Shetal Shah, MD

May 2, 2020May 2, 2020

Coronavirus has essentially altered life for the foreseeable future, and it’s clear to experts this public health crisis will only be defeated with development and implementation of a vaccine. While Coronavirus has shown us what life is can be without ONE vaccine, there is still the issue of acceptance of vaccines we already have. The resurgence of whooping cough this decade, the 2014 California measles outbreak and ~1200 cases of …

Conditions and diseases

A pediatrician’s tips to help you and your family during the coronavirus pandemic

Johanna Vidal Phelan, MD, MBA

April 22, 2020Apr 22, 2020

The coronavirus has certainly served to manifest our shared humanity and vulnerability. As parents, many of us are facing substantial challenges in providing for our families, as we struggle to help our children with their schoolwork, all the while hoping we can return to some semblance of normalcy soon. To continue to provide the security and love our children need in order to thrive in our homes, we must also …

Physician voices

The Intern: an excerpt from a novel

Peter Hogenkamp, MD

April 22, 2020Apr 22, 2020

An excerpt from The Intern. Room 12 was at the west end of the pediatrics ward and to the right, at the far side of an alcove few patients ever entered—and none left. Maggie paused at the corner, reaching into…

An excerpt from The Intern.

Room 12 was at the west end of the pediatrics ward and to the right, at the far side of an alcove few patients ever entered—and none left. Maggie paused at the corner, reaching into the recess where the nurses stowed the food cart, and tucked away a couple packages of graham crackers into the pocket of her coat. She had never …

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The Intern: an excerpt from a novel

Children’s health

Articles, page 27

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