Question

[FutureDoc86]

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This might be a rather odd question. I am applying to Pediatrics this season and I am so excited about it: I love love kids, their problems, interacting with families and the enthusiasm that surrounds Peds in terms of our incredibly nice colleagues, etc. But for some reason one of my medicine friends asked me , whether you Pediatricians ever miss your adult patients and connecting with them?
Thanks!

 

[SamDC]

This might be a rather odd question. I am applying to Pediatrics this season and I am so excited about it: I love love kids, their problems, interacting with families and the enthusiasm that surrounds Peds in terms of our incredibly nice colleagues, etc. But for some reason one of my medicine friends asked me , whether you Pediatricians ever miss your adult patients and connecting with them?
Thanks!

Interesting and bizarre question. Does he mean having interactions with adults? You'll always have parents to talk to if you miss interacting with adults as well your colleagues, nursing staff and so on.

 

[BCLumas]

Interesting and bizarre question. Does he mean having interactions with adults? You'll always have parents to talk to if you miss interacting with adults as well your colleagues, nursing staff and so on.

I think he means interactions with your patients once they've grown up? I really don't know for sure. The question was worded a bit strangely, for sure.

 

[Doctorverardoll]

I think the poster is posing the question on whether pediatricians ever miss having adult aged patients (ie being internists).

 

[RenshawCell]

18-21 year old patients are adults.

 

[BCLumas]

18-21 year old patients are adults.

While I see what you're trying to do, that really is not helpful to the OP.

OT: This might be a question better suited for the Attendings that frequent these threads, as they are the ones with the most experience. The most we medical students can do is imagine.

 

[RenshawCell]

While I see what you're trying to do, that really is not helpful to the OP.

OT: This might be a question better suited for the Attendings that frequent these threads, as they are the ones with the most experience. The most we medical students can do is imagine.

The OP might want to consider that pediatricians deal with parents all day long. That is their injection of adult medicine. Why not ask obgyns if they miss treating men or if neonatologists miss treating things that can talk back. If pediatricians wanted to deal with adults, they would go into FM.

 

[Stitch]

I have never missed adult patients. They whine more and are not nearly as much fun as kids. And on some level, I've never been able to shake the feeling that many deserve what they get: drinking, smoking, overeating for years.

That said, I have a couple of friends who do adolescent medicine and because they like the older, more interactive population. Some people do med/peds and take care of people with childhood diseases into adulthood (congenital heart disease, cystic fibrosis that sort of thing), so there are ways to keep that connection to older patients.

 

[oldbearprofessor]

Pediatricians ever miss your adult patients and connecting with them?
Thanks!

For me? never ever ever 😀

 

[SurfingDoctor]

Non-compliant diabetes with gangrene toes and heroine addicts with cellulitis at the injection sites that leave AMA... no thanks.

 

[michigangirl]

Never! I get enough adult interaction with my colleagues and the patient's parents. That's good enough for me! 🙂

 

[Cuthbert]

This might be a rather odd question. I am applying to Pediatrics this season and I am so excited about it: I love love kids, their problems, interacting with families and the enthusiasm that surrounds Peds in terms of our incredibly nice colleagues, etc. But for some reason one of my medicine friends asked me , whether you Pediatricians ever miss your adult patients and connecting with them?
Thanks!

Adults are gross!

No, I do not miss seeing 70 yo train wrecks who are a product of a life of poor choices on their part (obesity, diabetics, HTN, high cholesterol, COPD). No thank you. I enjoy how innocent my patients are when it comes to their disease process.

It is always a joy to see kids in clinic and even in the hospital. I never felt that way with adults.

 

[edmadison]

Not once, ever.

Ed

 

[J-Rad]

I think you are going to (got) a biased cohort here as all here (AFAIK) are straight peds. I would guess that if you polled a bunch of med peds folk, quite a few would say that they would have missed adults had they gone straight peds. If I had been afforded the opportunity I may have tried med peds (no med peds in my branch of the military), but that would have been for the special place that can be occupied by pediatric cardiologists (my field) with a med peds background (having mostly to do with adult congenital heart disease) not so much to be able to take care of more routine adult medical problems. Have my interactions with adult patients within my subspecialty been enjoyable? For the most part, yes, but there is a whole lot of anxiety and psychosomatic issues in that population that I don't particularly enjoy. I like the limited scope that I practice on adults within, so I don't particularly miss general adult patients.

 

[silverlining1]

I actually didn't decide to go into peds until after my 3rd year rotation. I used to want to be some type of surgeon (!!). So, now that I'm plowing through a bunch of peds sub-i's, I do miss being in the OR, getting to cut, getting to make nice neat stitches. I really liked OB/Gyn, and I miss prenatal monitoring and delivering babies. But that's okay... we can't have everything, and I don't regret my decision to go into peds for a second.

Definitely don't miss adults and their nasty venous stasis ulcers though. Not at all.