A Community Pediatrics Bulletin: Asking Saves Kids from Gun Violence
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) defines community pediatrics as the “practice of promoting and integrating the positive social, cultural and environmental influences on children’s health.” Traditional clinical pediatrics is not sufficient to take on problems such as gun violence, high infant mortality rates, obesity, or exposure to lead and other environmental hazards. Community pediatricians…
Rooting Out Implicit Bias in Pediatric Practice
In my 2017 LadyDocs Corner Cafe blog, “Let’s Talk About Racism,” I introduced my first experiences grappling with racism. I’m happy to report back after the 2019 American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) annual meeting that many pediatricians, myself included, are freer from both intentional (explicit) and unintentional (implicit) acts of interpersonal racism and sexism. I…
Grief and the Holidays
written by Julie Bindeman, PsyD To be human means to experience loss. With loss comes feelings of grief, as loss and love go hand and hand. We mourn what we once cared about. As the holidays come upon us, feelings of loss can be confusing during what is typically thought of as a happy time of…
Trauma and the Holidays
The holiday season can be a time for gratitude, peace, love, and joy. It can also be a time of stress, pressure, intense trigger responses, depression, and anxiety. For those who are going through or have experienced trauma, the latter is more likely. Survivors of domestic abuse, sexual violence or harassment, incest, stalking, and bullying…
Challenging Family Scripts and Setting Healthy Boundaries During the Holidays
As a marriage and family therapist, I was asked to speak at a recent Lady Docs gathering about family interactions that play a prominent role during this holiday season. Feel free to journal as the group did last week as we explore family relationships. As therapists, we treat people as part of a family system…
2019 National Race to End Women’s Cancer
This morning, my husband and I and several friends met at Freedom Plaza in Washington D.C. for our third 5K run/walk for National Race to End Women’s Cancer, to support the Foundation for Women’s Cancer. Gynecologic cancers include Ovarian, Cervical, Endometrial/Uterine, Vulva and Vaginal Cancer. According to the American Cancer Society statistics, there were 110,070…
A walk in the gardens – just what the doctor ordered
There are always things that need to be done. But, sometimes peace and quiet in nature is just what the doctor ordered. Our last exercise post was about the benefits of exercise – 150 minutes of mild to moderate exercise each week. Prior posts touted the importance of walking for osteoporosis prevention. We know that being outdoors…
Helping Others – Tips Related to Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month
It seems that every cause has a day, week or month to bring awareness and that we can be inundated with these messages. With that in mind, this post is about an issue that most people don’t talk much about or know how to respond to: pregnancy and infant loss. October signifies the awareness of…
The Gastric Cancer that Never Was
This blog probably will be among the longest ones you have seen from me. I often warn my women friends whenever I write a long email, to tell them what I think about the week, from political news to social issues to all the “interesting” events happening to me that week. I advise them to…
DC Central Kitchen — ”We fight hunger differently”
In the past, Lady Docs has volunteered as a group at DC Central Kitchen. Yesterday, I’m proud to say, we had the most volunteers they remember seeing there. During the week, graduates of their Culinary Job Training Program, who are now paid employees, prepare the food. On the weekends, generous donors, like Dr. Chitra Rajagopal,…