Nicole, MD MPH MHPE 
Now seems like a good time to talk about how I chose #adolescentmedicine and becoming an #eatingdisorder specialist in particular. The reasons are multi-layered but this is the main gist🧵
I started medical school thinking I would probably become a primary care pediatrician. I always thought teens were unfairly disparaged, but didn’t know adolescent medicine was a subspecialty at that point, so I thought I would be one or those pediatricians that didn’t mind teens.
I enrolled in a dual MD/MPH program, thinking the training in prevention and advocacy would help inform my practice in primary care (#vaccines!).
In my MPH year, which was between my 2nd and 3rd years of medical school, I was struck by the frequency in which the “obesity epidemic” came up in readings, class, and discussions, and how some people discussed it.
As someone who graduated from college just 2 years prior- I thought, “doesn’t anyone think this could be problematic?#Eatingdisorders are terrible illnesses, and this messaging doesn’t help.” The answer was no, very few people thought about it in this way.
So I dug in and made #eatingdisorders the focus of my MPH thesis and field work. I’m grateful my program let me choose my own adventure in this way! In my clinical years following, the lack of resources/clinicians available to take care of this population was further confirmed.
I was determined to become part of that solution, and once I learned about adol med, the rest is history. I’m so thankful I’ve found folks that share my passion for taking care of patients with #eatingdisorders, and have a similar perspective.
The AAP’s new publication confirms that advocacy is needed, our voices, and more importantly, OUR PATIENTS (and sadly, potential/future patients) are deserved of consideration. Sadly, this is still needed in most medical forums.
I’m grateful to be advocating and practicing alongside many others. And to anyone, in medicine or outside not, for whom the messaging about weight in children doesn’t feel right, you aren’t alone. //