As part of a new initiative to support and broaden mental health awareness for primary care clinicians, the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (WIAAP) today announced the release of “Doctor to Doctor, a Pediatric Mental Health Podcast.” The series features compelling and practical conversations with psychiatrists, psychologists, and experts in pediatric mental health to address what primary care clinicians need to know about common conditions prevalent amongst children and adolescents today.
According to clinicians, the number of cases of youth and adolescents with mental health concerns has continued to rise sharply, especially with the onset of isolation and trauma related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Podcast host Dr. Dipesh Navsaria is a pediatrician and former WIAAP president who has seen firsthand this explosion of need.
“If you polled my colleagues, they’d tell you upwards of four of ten of their visits involve some kind of mild to moderate mental health concern,” he says. “It’s challenging for us to help children and families when our training didn’t cover as much of this type of care.”
The 12-part series brings in one-on-one conversations between professionals to bridge those knowledge gaps across a broad array of topics including anxiety, depression, substance use, ADHD, eating disorders, trauma, and more.
Kia Kjensrud, WIAAP executive director, is enthusiastic about the chapter’s development of resources through this model. “This is a new frontier for us. Our research showed great interest in an accessible way for learning across disciplines, and that our members had an appetite for this format.”
Listeners can subscribe, download, rate, and review via Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Pandora, Spotify, and Stitcher.