Last week we introduced our readers to a half day in one of the busiest children’s hospitals in the United States—Phoenix Children’s Hospital (PCH).
In a typical day, 1,090 children pass through these doors to see a doctor, 46 will have surgery, 36 will be admitted to the hospital and 236 will come to the emergency room.
During our visit we followed a handful of the 4,688 people that make Phoenix Children’s so special.
Pediatrics is different from practices which deal primarily with chronic, degenerative diseases—like large joints (osteoarthritis) or spine (degenerative disc disease).
In pediatric orthopedics, doctors tackle injuries and diseases of the immature musculoskeletal system—an ever changing biologic system.
On the second half of the day, we saw how teenagers interact with their physicians and, in a particularly heartwarming experience, we got to know Colton Dunton, a 21-year-old patient who had a five-hour surgery while we were with him and his doctor.
So, welcome to the second half of our day at Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
Teenagers
The teenage years are a march to autonomy. Teens, unlike younger children, have developed the ability to work through complex problems and are very aware of how others perceive them.
For the physicians at Phoenix Children’s Hospital that means that, as Dr. Eric Bowman explained to OTW, “With teens, you’ve got to earn their trust. Building a rapport is really important.”
We met Dr. Bowman in the examining room as he was talking with Angela, age 13 years. She’d broken her wrist and recently had her cast removed. Dr. Bowman was looking at his handiwork when we walked in.
Dr. Bowman has been at Phoenix Children’s for a year and a half. He went to medical school at Ohio University and did his residence at Children’s National hospital in Washington, DC.
Having played sports in high school—golf, soccer, basketball, track and baseball—it was probably pre-ordained that he would specialize in sports medicine.
Dr. Bowman’s bedside manner is so good. Even while he was explaining the dos and don’ts to Angela, he was fun and laid back. “Don’t do any crazy stuff, like cheerleader hand stands.”
“When a patient in comfortable, trusting, then they’ll listen to a recommendation.”
Angela’s wrist is healing well, as Dr. Bowman showed her mother.
“I really enjoy PCH”, Dr. Bowman told us, “The sports medicine department has such a nice atmosphere. And Phoenix is great. There are so many active kids. We see a lot of patients. Also, we have the motion lab, which gives us the opportunity to evaluate our patients in new, state of the art ways.”
