A: A typical day for me—so most of my days are spent seeing patients. I’m here at the school clinic two days a week, and then I also go to a couple of other offices on the other days. It’s nice when we’re here because we see students from the school. I personally really like to see teenagers, and here that’s what we mostly see. You get a different sort of feel for kids—especially here—because they come in by themselves, without their parents, and you really get to interact in a different way. In my other offices, I’m seeing patients of all ages. A typical day for me usually starts at eight in the morning, and I see patients from newborns all the way up to 21. So, a really broad age range, and for all different things. A lot of times they’re coming in just for checkups and school physicals and things like that.
Q: How do you manage the emotional toll that can come with working in pediatrics, especially with ill or injured children?
A: Yeah, that’s a good question. Within pediatrics—within my day—there’s a lot of balance because I also see really happy, positive, healthy kids. Part of what I love about my job is that` I see kids from the time they’re born until they’re teenagers. At this point, I have kids that I’ve been seeing for years, so I’ve seen them grow up. I’ve seen their personalities change, they take on sports, hobbies, they go off to college—all kinds of things. That’s also really nice. You get to have a long-term relationship, and you see the good too. The hardest part is when it’s something like abuse, or a kid who gets really badly hurt or has a significant injury, or, God forbid, a cancer diagnosis. You just have to refocus on what you can control in the situation. I think it’s always about doing your best in terms of whatever kind of care the patient needs that you’re responsible for. A lot of it is also leaning on that relationship you have with the kids and their parents to express your emotions. For a lot of us, when we go through a hard time, we take comfort in sharing our emotions with others. Whether that’s with the family—to the appropriate extent—or with my friends or my partner, I lean on them for support. But you definitely need a way to process all the hard things that happen in the course of a day.
Q: Do you ever work in a team with pediatricians, or do you usually work independently?
A: Yeah, no, we definitely work in a team a lot of the time. In the office, for any patient, we have our front desk person who schedules them, deals with insurance issues, makes sure they get follow-up appointments—all that stuff. Reminder calls. So they’re really responsible for getting the patient to us in many ways. Then we have our medical assistant or nurse who does their part. That kind of goes back and forth—they tell us what’s going on with the patient, and we order tests—so there’s that back and forth. There’s a lot of working in groups with any given patient. And certainly, I work with my colleagues. We bounce questions off each other. We’ll ask each other for help or say, “Hey, I think this is going on with such-and-such patient. Do you mind taking a look?” or “Give me your thoughts,” or “What would you do?” So, there’s a lot of teamwork.
Q: What are the most rewarding aspects of your work environment?
A: The work itself is fulfilling. Like I said, for the most part, kids are healthy, and even when they’re sick or something happens, they tend to get better. There’s something nice about that. And in pediatrics, everyone does it because they care about kids. They have an interest in seeing kids and families get better and do well. You’re working with a lot of people who have a similar attitude and passion for the work like you do. That’s also really nice
Q: What type of team do you work with, and how do you collaborate with nurses, specialists, and other medical professionals?
A: Yeah, there’s a lot of that. I mean, we work with nurses and specialists who might ask us to see patients. For example, a nurse might get a question from someone and say, “Hey, this is actually a better question for the doctor. Can you see this patient?” Or a specialist might reach out, saying, “Hey, this kid hasn’t had a checkup in years, or a school physical.” It goes the other way too. If we see a kid with a skin issue, we might need to quickly consult a dermatologist or another specialist to figure out the best course of action or how to get a test done. There’s a lot of that, and I think it’s rooted in professional respect and trust within those relationships. When we don’t know something, it’s important to acknowledge that. We know a lot, but we also know what we don’t know, which is honestly really important. The key is knowing who to turn to for help. So, going back to the question of working in teams or with others—it’s about knowing when to ask a colleague, “Hey, here’s what’s going on. I’m not really sure—what do you think?” Or depending on the situation, you might just refer the patient to a specialist. It’s about knowing where to get the information you need. Just like when you’re learning something new and don’t know the answer, the most important thing is figuring out how to find the right information.
Q: What’s the weirdest thing a kid has said to you in an appointment?
A: Oh, gosh, I had a kid recently tell me something that they put in their ear. It was a little kid, maybe around… no, I think he said he didn’t put anything in his ear, but we could clearly see something in there. So, we were trying to figure out what it was and if we could take it out. We hear some weird things, but that one definitely stands out.
Q: Have you ever been sneezed on, peed on, or thrown up on?
A: Oh yeah, all of them. The pee happens most commonly with babies, but yes, I’ve definitely been thrown up on, and I’ve definitely been sneezed on.
Q: Is there something you wish you knew before starting this career?
A: I think the part about taking care of yourself—finding that balance—is really important.
Q: What would you tell someone in high school who wants to be a pediatrician?
A: I would say, study really hard, and one of the most important skills for a doctor is to be curious about why things happen. It’s also important to be curious about how you’re going to figure things out. There’s a lot of problem-solving that goes into what we do.
Q: What’s the best experience? As in volunteering, shadowing, etc.
A: I think all of this can be helpful. It’s important to get exposed to what you’re doing. But at the end of the day, what pediatrics—especially the kind of pediatrics I do—comes down to is working with people. So, anything that helps you develop skills to communicate and work well with others, and to build connections—especially with people you don’t know—is really helpful.
