171 Ashley Ave.
Charleston, SC 29425
843-792-1414
800-424-MUSC
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December 2005
Letter From Our Chair
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L. Lyndon Key, MD
Professor and Chairman
Department of Pediatrics |
Dear Faculty, Staff and Friends of the Children's Hospital,
This month, we will highlight the value of a special training program for residents in the area of adolescent medicine. When
pediatricians were trained in the 1970s and 1980s, little was known about the problems and the challenges of treating teenagers.
It seemed simple--these patients were usually able to report what was going on-where it hurt, what they were doing, and what they
wanted. However, physicians who regularly treated teenagers realized that it was not so easy, that there were many challenges.
Most of us find it difficult to talk about psychological problems, sexual development and family crises. We also find that when
we address these problems directly, especially with adolescents, we have to be artists to "see" the situation and "sketch out"
the details of the problem. It is a tour de force to diagnose problems at this stage of development. The forces that are at
work in molding the life of the child, and the problems the child really wants to address make creating a treatment plan that
works an even greater accomplishment. Janice Key, MD, and her partners in the Adolescent Medicine Division have taken on this
group of patients with tough love, intelligence, and a caring, loving spirit.
With the addition of Sergio Buzzini, MD, the division now addresses the dimension of sports participation and its associated
injuries in the adolescent population. Having a physician who understands adolescent athletes and their most frequent injuries
is a rare luxury for any pediatric department. Dr. Buzzini is also improving the process of ensuring that adolescents are
healthy before they start playing sports and that all safety precautions are in place. This sports medicine program is growing
rapidly and will achieve new heights when it soon combines with orthopedic care.
Dr. Janice Key has developed a program tailored to Lowcountry schools to help prevent secondary and primary teenage pregnancies.
This program aims at providing adolescent girls the self-respect and the desire to improve the lives of their children by
preventing a second pregnancy. Dubbed the "Second Chance Club" by its initial participants, this program has been one of the most
effective pregnancy prevention programs in the Country. Similar programs have now expanded to primary pregnancy prevention in
middle schools and comprehensive programs aimed at both groups in an entire school system, including elementary, middle school,
and high school. Community involvement and the importance of this problem has drawn community leaders, parents, teachers, and
churches together.
Recently, Dr. Trish Hutchinson, co-author of the very popular book, "Girlology." joined the Adolescent Division. In this book,
girls and their mothers (and possibly other family members) learn how to communicate on issues of sexual development and sexuality.
The wit and humor of this publication provide the basis for dealing with topics that preteens should be taught, but rarely are.
Dr. Hutchinson applies this same winning wit, humor and knowledge to her specialized treatment of preteens and teens under her
care at the Children's Hospital.
The adolescent medicine program at MUSC has been a great success. The division provides new ideas, a wide range of programs, and
a place where families turn when they need an answer, as well as where preteens and teens receive primary care. As with all our
programs at the Children's Hospital, we make them available to all children. These wonderful physicians and staff (including the
fabulous Linda Marsh, RN, MS, who has worked with Dr. Key since day one) have made adolescent medicine a premier clinical program,
one of the nation's most productive research programs in preventing pregnancy, and a marvelous teaching experience. We all fear
things that we do not understand. "Understanding" is the strength of our adolescent program-providing better service now and
superb training for the doctors of the future.
Sincerely,
L. Lyndon Key, MD
Chair, Department of Pediatrics
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