The Children Are Worth It
In the 3rd grade I made a declaration,
regarding my future occupation —
I would one day be a physician,
specifically, a pediatrician!
Tag: pediatrics
Contributing Writer
University of Florida
Melissa went to medical school at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso. She is currently a PGY-1 at the University of Florida Pediatrics Residency Program. She is not quite sure where she will end up after residency but has thought a lot about pursuing fellowship training in infectious disease. In her spare time, Melissa enjoys going to local parks and farmer’s markets with her husband and baby. She also enjoys reading sci-fi, writing letters to her awesome pen pal (her 8-year-old nephew), and Facetiming friends and family.
For Whom We Cry
For the baby who’s been battered and bruised / and for the adolescent already multiple times abused.
Milestones
Wrinkly face and wonky head; I support your wobbly neck. No matter the emotion, you respond with a cry.
A Tale of Two Worlds
It was the most joyful of times. It was the most horrific of times. A week before my first child was born,
an act of terror occurred on the other side of the world.
Well Child Visit
Hello, come in, / and welcome to peds clinic! / My attention is on you / for the next 20 minutes.
Pediatric Vaccine Schedule
Your mom gets tetanus (Tdap) / before you’re born, / Plus COVID and flu / are the norm.
We Had a Choice
My husband and I were pregnant with a child / Then we found out something wild. / I am a carrier of SMA / And this affects me in almost no way.
The Newborn Perspective
Don’t you forget the first day of life, / You had turned upside down / And a tight slap upon your backside / Even to get you to breathe!
Restoring American Aid for Yemeni Child Health
End-stage starvation is rare, but devastating. After exhausting its fat stores, the body breaks down its organs for energy: muscle, liver, kidney and finally the heart. The blood itself becomes toxic, in a dangerously narrow balance between brain death and cardiac arrest. As a pediatrician, I wish to protect all children from these symptoms. But as an American taxpayer, I worry about my contribution to the starvation of children in Yemen. President Biden recently announced …
Life // Death
A flicker on the screen of the heartbeat, the first glimpse of my baby, I cry at the possibility of new life // An empty ultrasound, no heartbeat, a young mom cries; discovery of death amidst life.
Sparkle Shoes
“Every one of these patients should terrify you,” the fellow said. I thought he was just being dramatic.
Living with Congenital Heart Disease Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Patient-Physician Reflection
Thinking back to January 2020, I recalled the whispers throughout the hospital of the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the United States, mere minutes from my home institution. Aside from my perspective as a pediatrician, I was also forced to confront my own anxieties regarding exposure to this virus as an adult living with repaired congenital heart disease.
Resident Physician Contributing Author
Cohen Children's Medical Center
Joseph Burns is a resident in pediatrics at Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York in Queens, NY. He is a native of Orlando, FL and is an alumnus of Stetson University. He is a 2019 graduate of the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine at Florida International University in Miami, FL. His research interests include congenital heart disease with a focus on bicuspid aortic valve and Native American health. He is passionate about the arts and community engagement. He hopes to pursue a career in pediatric cardiology.