Author: Maureen McCarthy

Challenging case: Diagnosing thyroid cancer

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thyroid-cancer

The Thyroid Program at Boston Children’s Hospital is one of the first and largest centers in the United States exclusively devoted to the care and treatment of children with thyroid diseases. The expertise of a comprehensive, integrated team — including endocrinology, radiology, surgery, nuclear medicine, oncology and pathology, as well as oncologists from the Rare Tumors Program at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center — attracts patients from across the country and around the world. …Read More

Gender identity & pronoun use: A guide for pediatric health care professionals

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Posted in Expert's Corner
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Pronoun-Lead

Everyone has a gender identity. Some people identify as cisgender — a gender that corresponds with the sex they were assigned at birth. While others identify with a gender that is different from what they were assigned at birth.

Regardless of a person’s sex assigned at birth, a person may identify as a woman, a man, both, neither or they may be gender fluid (switch between genders). In a healthcare setting, respecting a patient’s gender identity and asking about the name and pronouns they use is a crucial element of good clinical care. …Read More

Expert’s Corner: Managing the Female Athlete Triad

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Female Athlete Triad

The Female Athlete Triad is comprised of three, interrelated components — low energy availability with or without disordered eating, menstrual dysfunction and low bone mineral density.

According to Kathryn Ackerman, MD, MPH, medical director of Boston Children’s Female Athlete Program, patients may present with one or more of these components. However, the challenge is that sports medicine physicians and other clinicians have varied approaches to management. …Read More

Combating physician burnout: ‘Silence is not the answer’

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Physician burnout

You’re about to start another long day. Traffic was grueling, you’re late for your first appointment, and the paperwork and meeting schedule that awaits you is daunting. You’re chasing the clock, today and most days, and your patients and co-workers are feeling the effects.

This scenario and countless variations of it are common drivers of physician burnout — a condition affecting 35 percent of U.S. physicians, according to The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). The condition is the result of prolonged stress involving emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and a sense of reduced personal accomplishments. …Read More