We are an adolescent primary care practice with specific knowledge of teens and young adults. Over time, adolescent medicine practitioners become a confidential source for teens who are beginning to need a "grown-up" doctor with whom to discuss life's problems. Adolescent medicine doctors become partners in helping teens take responsibility for their own health and well being.
Adolescent Medicine was established as a specialty about fifty years ago. Doctors noticed that what made teens unhealthy was not the strep throats or the chicken pox, as much as it was the decisions teens and young adults were making. As kids get older they are generally pretty healthy in a medical sense, with the exception of an occasional case of mono or the flu. But what makes teens unhealthy most often is related to sexuality, friends and family issues, alcohol and other substance abuse, eating disorders (too much or too little or the wrong choices), driving and sports related injuries, and stress. So what we do differently in adolescent medicine is to think about the person as a whole, not as a medical problem, but as a human being navigating all of this new territory. Sometimes kids and young adults are navigating with an outdated map or without one at all. Our goal is to help them traverse the challenging zones and thrive into adulthood.