Adolescent
Medicine and Young Adult Medical Practice at Children's Hospital
Boston
As the oldest adolescent medicine clinic in
the U.S., the Adolescent Medicine and Young Adult Medical Practice
at Children's Hospital Boston has been providing comprehensive
interdisciplinary physical and mental health care for adolescents
and young adults ages 10 to 23 since 1951. A multidisciplinary
staff of adolescent medicine specialists, nurse practitioners,
nurses, nutritionists, HIV counselors, and mental health professionals
working collaboratively provide more than 17,000 primary care
and specialty patient visits each year at Children's Hospital
and four community-based satellite locations.
As part of its outreach to adolescents and their parents, the
clinic uses 21st century technologies to bring health information
to adolescents and connect them with health care services. It
has developed two interactive websites,
youngwomenshealth.org and youngmenshealthsite.org,
that not only provide more than 150 easy-to-read, accurate, and
professionally developed health guides on specific adolescent
health topics that range from body piercing and acne to menstrual
problems and STIs but also provide a forum for adolescents to
share their health concerns with staff from the practice. These
online chats occur monthly in the evening on specific topics and
are meant to provide support and general information. Monthly
chats have been held on polycystic ovarian syndrome, MRKH (vaginal
and uterine anomalies), and endometriosis. Youth advisors have
had an integral role in the development of the sites and have
an ongoing role in peer education and outreach and education activities,
including writing articles for the quarterly Teen Talk newsletter.
The practice also has a particular commitment to providing care
to special adolescent populations with reproductive endocrine
issues and eating disorders and those at risk for or living with
HIV. The Reproductive Endocrine Program provides specialized care
to girls with absent or irregular menses, polycystic ovary syndrome,
and a variety of other gynecologic complaints. The Eating Disorders
Program provides multidisciplinary consultative care to adolescents
with anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and other disordered eating issues.
Its Boston HAPPENS program provides free HIV counseling and testing,
comprehensive clinical care to HIV positive youth, and a variety
of counseling and support services for patients and families,
including case management and individual and group therapy. Staff
also work closely with youth-serving organizations on HIV prevention
and intervention strategies and provide technical assistance,
consultation, and staff in-service trainings. Faculty and fellows
are also involved in a variety of research projects that focus
on developing new interventions for improving adolescent health
such as obesity, eating disorders, STIs, media, and bone health.
