If that mockingbird don't sing...

Crap. I've been SO negligent with this blog lately. Rest assured, however, that this only indicates that I am not being negligent with the other [albeit more important] aspects of my life.

Gosh, where do I start? I have two days left in my pediatrics rotation. Crazy, right? But let me tell you, I have LOVED peds. What I cannot distinguish, however, is why exactly I've loved peds. I can't tell if it's from the more fluffy, compassionate angle, or the more precise medical angle. I'm favoring the former. I don't like to see children suffering through things that are beyond their years. In my opinion, children shouldn't have kidney stones, crohn's disease, infectious arthritis, or trouble breathing. I just don't like it. And with children, I rather make the difference by being the friendly smile who knows their name and their favorite color than make decisions about their antibiotic regimen or whether their urine has a healthy pH. It's too impersonal. I just cannot be impersonal when it comes to children. At the end of the day, I don't know if this characteristic would make me a better clinician for children or a resentful one. When it comes to a younger population, I want to be on the prevention end, not the diagnosis and treatment end.

I've had a good smattering of different children and families to take care of. I've had a 57 day old baby with no parents in sight, and a 15 month old whose parents could never leave. I've had a 7 year old non-verbal boy with autism who has suffered through lead poisoning, ear infections and mastoiditis with parents with genuine hearts of gold, and a 5 year old boy with asthma who's mom forgot to tell his dad he had asthma when dad got custody. Don't get me wrong, I have felt fulfilled in my role with all these patients and families, but in many different ways. With the 57 day old, I was the first in a while to offer her my undivided attention. The parents of the 15 month old were able to get lunch in the cafeteria without feeling guilty about leaving their child alone because of me. The 7 year old boy with autism was a challenge, but at the end of two days I got a hug from not only his mom, but also from him. And the 5 year old boy, as we colored, asked me if I was 5 years old, too, and he let me be his best friend for the day.

Yes, I can spit out the diagnoses and the interventions and the treatment modalities for the ailments that afflict young children. But at the end of the day, I earn an A+ in humanity.