Lessons from a Lifetime in Pediatrics: Hear From Retired Physician Dr. Judy Ratner
Judy Ratner, MD, joined Children's National in 1985. After a 39-year career with CNPA Foggy Bottom, Dr. Ratner retired on June 30, 2024. She graduated from Wellesley College and then the UC San Diego School of Medicine. She did her pediatric residency both at the UNC-Chapel Hill and at Children’s National. Following residency, she did a fellowship in Adolescent Medicine, also at Children’s National. After a brief stint in Baltimore, she joined our practice.
During my nearly four decades at Children's National, we saw patients in four different locations, and changed our documentation from paper to electronic (way back in 2006, I believe). But what never changed for me was the feeling that Primary Care Pediatrics was a very special, unique and rewarding profession.
Here’s what hasn't changed in 39 years of practicing medicine:
- A parent’s intuition about their child is almost always right. A parent’s quest to help their child will lead to sacrifice and dogged determination on their part, all of which helps us help them.
- Patients and parents want to be truly seen and heard. This is especially true for adolescents who may not have other outlets to be heard. In primary care, this creates a constant tension between wanting to spend much more time with each patient or family, and the real life time constraints that we have in order to stay afloat. (Yes, that’s why I was always running late!)
- Many patients and families need concrete resources to help improve their lives, whether it is food, transportation, housing or access to medications. This is an area where we as physicians feel inadequate and often frustrated. We hope that what we can do will help out just a little bit. We really do care.
And what has changed:
- Nutrition. I have been thrilled to see the healthy changes that many parents have made in their kids’ diets, starting at a young age. Twenty years ago, if a parent told me that their toddler eats kale or sushi, I probably would have fainted!
- Social media and screen time. Sadly, this is a fact of life, but I am gratified by many parents’ attempts to limit this and to become educated themselves on the latest platforms. I smile when I walk in a room and see a 2-year-old watching a cartoon on her parent’s phone, and the mom immediately apologizing for this, wondering if I will deem her a “bad parent” for letting a toddler have screen time. This is the blessing and curse of screen time in our office: that cartoon or video is probably the difference between my getting a good exam on the child and struggling to hear her heart in between screams and sobs!
- Mental health. I am gratified by the increased acceptance (and decreased stigma) of mental health care in all the diverse communities that our patients represent. While we wish that there were fewer barriers to care—availability of providers, long wait times, logistical access and cost—just discussing mental health issues in the office can bring great relief to patients, particularly teens and young adults. I personally have had some of my most gratifying and memorable encounters with parents and teens around issues of anxiety, depression, peer pressure, low self-esteem, etc.
To summarize, I feel extremely grateful for my long and rewarding career in Primary Care Pediatrics with Children’s National. It has been a privilege to be a part of the struggles and triumphs of our families; few professions have that kind of meaningful long-term relationship, even within medicine. To my patients, I miss you, and I truly hope you are all doing well, physically, mentally and academically. I think about you a lot. If you’d like to let me know how you’re doing, feel free to send or leave a note with Karina at our front desk on K Street.
Sincerely,
Dr. Judy Ratner
