Talk to Your Doc- but actually

Imagine a mother visiting the doctor for her daughter's three month check up where she discovers that her daughter has a severe skin condition whose severity causes it to stay with the child forever. That mother was mine. Ever since I was three months old, I've had a severe case of Eczema that my mother has tried to eliminate with treatment after treatment- from Homeopathic care, to topical and oral steroids. Through this condition, I have grown extremely close to medicine and the power that it has on changing people's lives.

Many people don't understand the effect skin conditions have on children. My entire life, I've been a victim of verbal abuse about the way that I look- why my skin was so flaky, bloody... whether I could spread my condition to others. For some reason, everything that they said caused a large amount of tension because I was always self-conscious about the condition. Especially as a kid, it was hard for me to grasp everything and make sense of it, while do the proper things necessary to make my skin better.

I needed another mentor. I needed someone-besides my parents- that would keep me on the right track; I could only listen to my mother so often. A doctor, solely dedicated to my growth, success, and accomplishments was necessary for me as a secondary source of reassurance; a pediatrician, in specific, who would keep me on an important track of medicine that would better my situation and make my family's and my life easier.

My experiences with working at a Pediatrician's office, as well as a hospital for two out of the four days, with four different doctors, gave me the perspective I needed. A doctor commitment to making a child's life easier provides them with hope. My past with Eczema, in the end, has improved only through my relationship with my doctor. If I had this relationship with her from birth, I believe I would be more grounded in who I am as a person. Because of my personal experiences with Eczema, I feel more connected to children and the amount of effort they go through in trying to get better. After shadowing Pediatricians, I understand and accept the importance of child care in that it makes for a stronger identity for kids, a more hopeful future, and a broader outlook on life.

Time to Think on Your Feet

 I like to fill my experiences with emotion and yes, as a drama queen, exaggerate every situation, take my time analyzing it, and assess it a proper and thorough way. Boy, has this experience been one big reality check! Every appointment I shadowed, I was overwhelmed sometimes with the quickness and intense professionalism that I had to have. The doctors try their very best to see as many patients as possible, and at the same, maintain a quality of care for them. I was alarmed with the consistency that the doctors had in keeping their emotions out; although they cared for every single child dearly, moping, groaning, and dwelling on the situation would only worsen the patient's experience.

The doctor I visited today had an experience with a boy who had a fast-growing malignant tumor in his brain and was suffering breathing problems, despite all the negative tests. The doctor, who despite being this child's pediatrician for eighteen years now, had to think on his feet. There was no time to feed on the patient's worries, but instead, find a practical diagnosis and treat it. This aspect of pediatric care has connected me greatly. The fact that a doctor who has trained for years in medicine, may choke from time to time in treating patients, and continues to try his hardest in making his patient's life better brings me to want to do this so much more. Pediatric care, because it requires taking care of the young, becomes extremely difficult to diagnose especially because these doctors have kids of their own, and it's hard to keep the emotions out when treating a child. Seeing the love for their work, their dedication, and their commitment to creating better lives, I have been drawn to the work of Pediatricians because they combine, more than anymore, their love for logic and reason, with their love for the beauty and good health of a child. 

A Pediatrician's Influence

Throughout my seventeen years of childhood, I’ve visited the Pediatrician only about three times in my life. My family believed a family practitioner would be enough support for my growth and development. Sure, I believe I've grown very successfully as I have been surrounded by people who care, and most importantly, show that they care. That is one aspect of Pediatricians that I believe isn't very common in today's medical world.  that isn't always  that goes unnoticed. In families where there is not much effort being put into the growth of a child, a Pediatrician provides the necessary support that every child needs. With this support, the child can go on to feel strength in every other aspect of their lives- may that be education, family responsibility, and even self-discovery.

With all the serious diagnosis that goes on in today's medical world, it is important that people are reminded that there is someone there- one person- that is dedicated to making life as easy as possible for them. So far, I've been with three different doctors. Every doctor I've shadowed has had patients who have been diagnosed with serious life-threatening conditions; some have been diagnosed with conditions like Medulloblastoma (causing large brain tumors), or Digeorge's Syndrome, pneumonia, or even simple ear infections. The thing that sets pediatricians apart from the rest is the obvious care they show, every step of the way. This care gives the child a source of hope and reassurance. With this hope, the child can leave the doctor's hope with a strong feeling that he or she will live a life like every other child and will have the opportunity to be successful. 

Good health care by well-trained, empathetic, and hard-working doctors who love their job provides a powerful source of growth for a child. With this care, a child can go on in the mindset that he or she has the ability to accomplish anything in life. Strenth in health allows for strength in school because a stronger mind promotes more learning. In the same way, strenth in health also allows for strength in family relations because the pediatricians make sure that parents are a constant aspect of the child's life. Overall, proper pediatric health care motivates children to be who they are, despite their differences, and strive to do what desire in their lives. These past few days, I've learned that proper pediatric health care goes far beyond the realm of simple health care in that it encompasses every aspect of a child's life. 

The Power of a Pediatrician

Talk about screaming babies. At first hand, that's all it seemed to be: screaming babies, ear infections, worried mothers, and more ear infections. Throughout the day, however, as I began to become more immune to this wonderful sound, I realized one thing that will stick with me forever- no matter how common a sickness is, or how generic a type of medicine is, every treatment works differently for every child. It is this understanding that makes a Pediatrician successful, in my opinion. There are many child care doctors who treat their patients from a very generic standpoint, resorting to only prescribing expensive medications and a few follow-up appointments. Then there are those child doctors, who like the one I shadowed yesterday, refuse to "simply treat the symptoms, and instead, address the deeper issue... and solve it for good." When I heard this in almost every appointment I shadowed today (about 26 total) I realized the difference it makes for the patient and his or her family because they can finally find some source of assurance that their child will live in good health. 


As important as other types of physicians are, after today, I felt an extremely strong urge to show the world the power that these Doctors have. A lot of people don't realize that a child is every family's opportunity to start over- do things differently, have a better life, and be happier. Literally a child when he or she is born has the potential to do anything; that is, if the family supports him or her to maintain not only good health, but also respectable values like integrity. Many of the doctors today made a specific effort to ask the patients about any external or internal negative influence, making each patient a unique case. 


Overall, today's work day, although I was running around the office trying to keep up with the doctor, brought me to many realizations about health care in general. Hopefully, this week keeps getting better, with more exciting patients and opportunities for me to experience the life of a Pediatrician.