Pediatrics

When the pediatrician is the parent: a personal reckoning with childhood obesity

Conditions

August 2, 2025

I would never have thought I would be the one writing this piece.

I am a board-certified pediatrician and internist with a background in nutrition, well-versed in integrative medicine. Our family eats its fair share of kale, blueberries, and salmon. We hardly ever have a significant supply of junk food in the house. Fast food is a rarity, and she never even tasted juice in toddlerhood. And still, my child’s BMI …

I knew choosing DPC would exacerbate primary care physician shortages, and I chose it anyway. Here’s why.

Marina Capella, MD

Physician

August 2, 2025

When I made the decision to leave the traditional, insurance-based system and start a direct primary care (DPC) practice, I didn’t do so under any illusions. I knew what the critics would say. In fact, I’d already heard it.

You’re making it harder for patients to find a primary care doctor.
You’re reducing access for the underserved.
You’re selling out.

I’ve read the blog posts, like the one recently published on …

How doctors can build emotional strength through writing

Carolyn Roy-Bornstein, MD

Physician

July 31, 2025

As I travel the country giving talks to various groups of health care professionals about resilience-building and physician burnout, I sometimes come up against some resistance to the idea. The argument goes something like this: If our emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and lack of a sense of personal accomplishment (i.e. burnout) is largely caused by work overload, administrative burdens, and the moral distress of trying to practice medicine humanistically amidst insurance …

How pediatricians can address the health problems raised in the MAHA child health report

Joseph Barrocas, MD

Policy

July 28, 2025

I understand that, in August, we will receive the prescription for the poor results of the recent Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) report focused on children’s health. As a pediatrician, I would like to offer some remedies for the child nutrition shortcomings identified in the report and provide feedback on other health concerns it raises.

Chronic disease rates among children are mentioned first in the report. Authors point to …

What it really means to be lucky: a doctor’s story of survival and resilience

Kelly Curtin-Hallinan, DO

Physician

July 26, 2025

This past St. Patrick’s Day my daughter and I were listening to John Lennon’s Luck of the Irish. She wondered aloud whether people realized the phrase was meant to be ironic. Lennon certainly did, singing, “If you had the luck of the Irish, you’d be sorry and wish you were dead …” With Irish-born grandparents and Liverpool’s deep Irish roots, he understood the weight of the phrase, eight hundred years …

Why telling kids to eat less and move more fails to address obesity

Callia Georgoulis

Conditions

July 19, 2025

Despite decades of public health messaging urging children to “eat less and move more,” rates of pediatric obesity continue to rise globally. In the U.S. alone, nearly 1 in 5 children and adolescents aged 2–19 years have obesity, with higher rates among those from low-income or minority backgrounds. While caloric balance is a basic principle of weight regulation, the oversimplification of obesity into a matter of willpower neglects the …

Rethinking physician resilience for sustainable well-being

Sarah Webber, MD

Physician

July 19, 2025

Personal resilience is one of the three core components of the Stanford model of physician professional fulfillment, used across institutions to inform provider well-being strategy. Yet, limited data suggest only a minority of physicians view personal resilience initiatives as beneficial to their well-being, and physicians have expressed resistance and frustration toward organization-based individual resilience promotion.

I have led and participated in workplace meditation courses, stress management talks, …

Facing terminal cancer as a doctor and mother

Kelly Curtin-Hallinan, DO

Conditions

July 11, 2025

In elementary school, my teachers always told us it was important to understand math because “you won’t always have a calculator in your pocket.” That sentiment hasn’t aged well, given that my iPhone and Alexa are always within reach. But no one said, “You better learn this because one day you’ll be teaching your own kids during a plague.” That was where the real value lay. In medical school, I …

Why listening to parents’ intuition can save lives in pediatric care

Tokunbo Akande, MD, MPH

Physician

July 9, 2025

“The value of intuition in clinical practice” prompted me to reflect on one of the deeper regrets I carry from my clinical practice—those moments when I didn’t fully acknowledge or act upon a parent’s intuition, often a mother’s, that something was wrong with their child.

As clinicians, we are trained to listen for clinical “buzz words”—specific complaints or symptom patterns that guide our diagnostic reasoning. These cues form the backbone …

Addressing U.S. vaccine inequities in vulnerable communities [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

June 30, 2025

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Medical students Kaitlynn Esemaya, Anamaria Ancheta, and Annique McLune discuss their article, “Why vaccine access still fails America’s most vulnerable groups.” They highlight how social determinants of health drive pervasive inequities in …

When your dream job becomes a nightmare [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

June 19, 2025

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!

Pediatrician Sarah Webber discusses her article, “Why it’s so hard to admit when we don’t like our jobs.” The conversation is a vulnerable look into her personal experience with burnout just nine …

How a TV drama exposed the hidden grief of doctors

Lauren Weintraub, MD

Physician

June 4, 2025

Like many of us in health care, I recently became engrossed in The Pitt. If you’re still watching—or plan to—consider this your spoiler alert. HBO’s new medical drama immerses viewers in a grueling 14-hour shift in the ER of a trauma center. I initially tuned in for Noah Wyle, my teenage crush, but I stayed for the catharsis. Never have I related on such a visceral level to the portrayal …

She wouldn’t move in the womb—then came the rare diagnosis that changed everything

Amber Robertson

Conditions

May 21, 2025

Even before Mia was born, I could sense that something about her was different. With my other children, I felt constant movement during pregnancy, but Mia stayed curled up in one spot and hardly moved at all. When I mentioned this to my obstetrician, he assured me that it was normal. But I was sure that there was something more going on.

As soon as Mia was born, there were signs …

Why ADHD in women is finally getting the attention it deserves

Arti Lal, MD

Conditions

May 15, 2025

More women than ever before are receiving ADHD diagnoses. From 2020 to 2022, the percentage of adult women with a new diagnosis nearly doubled, and clinicians continue to encounter higher rates of women seeking assessments.

It’s reassuring that, after decades of association with rambunctious little boys, ADHD is finally being acknowledged as a condition that can affect anyone, regardless of age or …

Patients are not waiting: What MCDA twin parents teach us about shared decision-making

Stephanie Ernst

Conditions

May 10, 2025

Monochorionic diamniotic (MCDA) twin pregnancies come with more scans, more risk, and more decisions to make in very little time. Parents are expected to absorb complex medical information, navigate unfamiliar terminology, and act quickly, often under pressure. When care teams do not meet that need for clarity and support, parents do what any reasonable person would do.

They go looking for answers.

In 2024, we published a study in Midwifery that explored …

Doctors speak out: Why we’re saying no to burnout

Aisha Quarles, MD

Physician

May 5, 2025

For years, physicians have given their time and mental space freely. But medicine has changed dramatically. It’s not the same field it was 40 years ago. Even 20 years ago.

Today, the pressures are higher than ever. Corporations now own many hospitals and outpatient practices. Insurance companies keep slashing reimbursements while demanding more documentation, more prior authorizations, and denying care more frequently. The administrative burden has exploded.

Meanwhile, inflation soars. Student loan …

Understanding the ADHD brain: support, empowerment, and managing challenges [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

May 4, 2025

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!

Pediatric neurologist Paige Kalika discusses her article, “Why ADHD kids struggle and how we can truly help,” sharing insights from her perspective as a pediatric neurologist and parent of a child with …

Residency as rehearsal: the new pediatric hospitalist fellowship requirement scam

Anonymous

Physician

May 2, 2025

Hypothetically, imagine you complete three years of internal medicine residency; working nights, managing complex cases, making real decisions. Then you’re told: To work in the hospital, in the in-patient setting, you must complete additional years of fellowship training.

At that point, a reasonable person might ask: Wait, what was residency for? If three years of supervised, graduated responsibility isn’t sufficient preparation, then either the residency is flawed, or the requirement is …

Why Medicaid is failing Black children despite record spending

Mick Connors, MD

Physician

April 25, 2025

I’ve been listening to Viola Davis’s memoir, Finding Me, and it’s been sitting heavy on my mind. She vividly describes how being both Black and poor isn’t just a struggle—it’s a one-two punch that shaped every aspect of her life. It’s not just about lacking resources; it’s about being trapped in a system that was never designed to let you win.

That message keeps hitting me because I’ve …

Fat guy in a little coat: Preventing childhood obesity

Morgan Frasier, RN, Kellye Koubek, APRN, Saba Qaiser, RN, and Karen Nicole Salazar, APRN

Conditions

April 24, 2025

Childhood obesity is not just about kids outgrowing their clothes faster than their parents can buy them— it’s a growing public health crisis. If we don’t step in now, the next generation might need bigger coats and even bigger health care budgets. Today, approximately one in five children and adolescents in the U.S. have obesity. The annual medical expenses related to childhood obesity in the U.S. is estimated …

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