What makes Pediatrics so Special?

Not all heroes wear capes, some come dressed with white coats and a stethoscope around their necks.

Ever since I can remember I have always wanted to become a pediatrician. From early childhood where the conversations over the dinner table were about my fathers patients, to spending most of my free time as a child in the halls of Shkodra's Hospital with my older brother, to my early teens when I became an orthodontist assistant to spending every summer during my college career either volunteering, shadowing, or working in hospitals and clinics, my mind and heart have never wavered. 

My passion to become a doctor and desire to pass on my knowledge to others is how I intend to live out the rest of my life.  Why exactly is pediatrics so special and how is it that this specific field interests me so much? Well, it is the only type of doctor that deals with how the human body develops from infant to child to adolescent. As you watch the very babies and children that you treated grow into young adults, you unintentionally become such a pivotal part of their families and the members that you treat. 

Pediatricians work in both clinics or hospitals. Those that work in hospitals are usually specialized in sub-fields such as neonatology or they are primary care physicians who specialize in children. Although many people may be intimidated or overwhelmed by the chaos that can sometimes occur in hospitals, I find peace in the noise, many challenges of diverse cases, running down the halls to get to a patient in time, communicating with people from all walks of life, and above all creating teams of people that you can rely on to help you treat patients with the utmost care and attention to detail. From a young age, I have always had this strong urge to help people whether it is in helping them live their most healthy and fulfilling life they can or giving them the tools and knowledge they need to have a better quality of living. 

 What Makes Pediatrics so Special?:

 Medicine is considered one of the oldest and most noble profession. It combines both art and science in order to heal others. The exceptional individuals who make up the medical field are not only passionate about their profession, but they are avid in passing their knowledge to others. 

Pediatrics, specifically, is different from other specialties in the medical field because the human body in continually changing in size making this specialty very unique and far more challenging than most would expect. Being present at every stage of a person's life from infant to adolescence is very exciting. Maturation changes in the child's body is another focus for pediatricians. The small body of an infant is substantially different physiologically from that of an adult.  

Pediatricians have to deal with congenital defects, genetic variance, and developmental issues. since children are minors and cannot make decisions for themselves, issues of guardianship, privacy, legal responsibility, and informed consent must always be considered in every pediatric procedure. Pediatricians have to treat the parents and family members rather than just the child. Adolescents , however, have rights to their own health care decisions. From emotional to medical support, pediatricians are there to take care of all their patients needs. 

It is those physicians who enrich their community, put their patients first, and pass their knowledge to others that make some stand out from the rest. It is these exceptional individuals who go above and beyond the traditional call of duty that make the medical field. Such characteristics as well as their integrity, commitment, passion, and kindness towards their patients and those in need that makes physicians vital members of the many communities in this beautiful country.  

 

Training:  

After four years of college, four years of medical school, and three years of training as a resident to become a board certified pediatrician. Residency of pediatrics is both rewarding and difficult journey since these children are diagnosed with severe diseases or illnesses. These children have to face needles, surgery, and spinal taps. These doctors will not only deal with their illnesses but also have to work through their deaths. Residency consists of 80 to 100 hours of work per week, minimum wage salaries, and very little to no time for a social life. Soon you will become comfortable and competent in providing care to sick children of all degrees. Then those who want to sub-specialize will have to commit to two or more years of fellowship training beyond residency to focus your pediatric medical skills.

Pediatricians to the Stars:

 

 French pediatrician and medical alumni of Nice School of Medicine, Micheal Cohen, came to New York where he opened 'Tribeca Pediatrics'. Dr. Cohen claims, "In the United States, medicine is very defensive. When treating their patients, doctors make sure they do everything to avoid a malpractice suit. I’ve never run my practice that way.” He opened 'Tribeca Pediatrics' at the most perfect time when Tribeca was undergoing changes. The French doctor built a strong reputation with French expats and bourgeois bohemians who transformed the neighborhood's workshops into fashionable lofts. His practice is currently ten times its original size in which 200 people are employed, 40 who are doctors working in his 15 offices. Celebrity mothers like Natalie Portman, Edie Falco, Heidi Klum, and Jennifer Connely go to him for their children. As a doctor, he strongly favored and eventually promoted himself unconventional methods of a few prescriptions and a small number of antibiotics. He also supports parenting methods of letting the child cry it out at night, avoid over scheduling children with activities, and not make everything revolve around your child.

  “Many doctors think that their skills speak for themselves. But their reception desk is awful, the posters are horrible.  Such details are important.  For instance, our offices send each patient an e-mail explaining the details of his/her visit.  I always try to improve on the protocol for receptionists, and we give a lot of training.”  The waiting rooms of the Tribeca offices have wooden toys for children to play with, designer lighting, and pop music playing in the background. His new goal is to open offices in under-served neighborhoods, like East New York and the Bronx, thanks to funds raised by his new foundation. Cohen believes that, “A profit can be made even with Medicaid patients,” he says, “In this case, however, the aim would be to reinvest into the community to help local schools.”

“What I learned to do as a pediatrician is take science and filter it out so you get rid of the stuff that doesn’t make sense that doesn’t sound reasonable and convert it to language people can understand,” Karp says. “A good pediatrician is a translator.”

From what I have read, it seems like Dr. Karp feels as though people have lost the basic knowledge of properly keeping their babies comfortable. For instance, Native Americans would swaddle their babies 24 hours a day for the first six months. He states that the reason why so much has changed is that modern society with ideas of democracy. Harvey Karp, pediatrician to accomplished individuals such as Jewell, Madonna, and Pierce Brosnan (among others), is an exceptionally accomplished individual himself. What makes him stand out from the rest? Is it the great success of his books 'Happiest Baby on the Block' and 'Happiest Toddler on the Block',  or is it that he is the chief executive of The Pump Station? It is all these aspects that make him an exceptional doctor and a great individual. His research, keen insight of infants, and his talent of breaking down what babies want and need into  easy to follow techniques for parents and caretakers has earned him widespread praise and spots on all the major television networks over the years for the method he calls the 'Five S's' which stands for swaddling, swinging, side/stomach position, and sucking. Although the Five S's are in no way something new, Dr. Karp was simply able to present them in a way that makes sense to the masses. More importantly, he supported his techniques with research and science. 

What he discovered was a scientific basis for why some of these age-old methods actually worked, and it basically came down to mimicking the conditions of the womb. Swaddling resembles the compact space. Turning babies on their side and stomach resembles the changing positioning within the womb. “I explored this over the next 10 to 20 years of practice and came to realize there was never a baby I couldn’t calm down unless the baby was sick,” Karp says. “I had to figure out why these things worked.” Researchers measuring sound from within the womb recorded the kind of white noise Karp recommends. Turns out different pitches of white noise have different effects with low pitch making us fall asleep and high pitch obviously waking us up. These effects can also take place on a more subtle basis. Karp and his team created an audio CD that best works to sooth an infant. “It’s kind of fun to look at something we’ve walked by a thousand times before and notice something new,” Karp says. “It’s hard to find something that solves a problem that everyone’s been working on. It works in a day and it works almost universally.” The Happiest Baby on the Block has sold well over 1 million copies worldwide. Karp also created a global accreditation program, having certified 2,600 educators in 11 countries with about 1,000 more in progress, to teach the method to other parents. And it’s all headquartered out of an art deco home in Brentwood with the help of his wife and some assistants.

“When you achieve your dreams, it is not about what you get, but about who you have become by achieving them,” Henry David Thorow

Links:
 (A) http://frenchmorning.com/en/2014/03/17/michel-cohen-pediatrician-stars-turned-bistrot-owner/
 (B) http://www.westsidepeoplemag.com/2013/03/harvey-karp-happiest-doctor-on-the-block/
*I do not own these images, they were found on various tumblr sites. Please let me know if any are yours and I will give you credit for them. Thanks so much!