Opinion: Congress must pass the child tax credit deal to support kids’ health
When I enter, “what is pediatrics?” into an image search engine, I get back dozens of stock photos with smiling physicians listening to beaming children’s hearts or looking in their ears. I love those images. They reflect the routine joy and trust that encompass many days in the life of a pediatrician.
Increasingly, though, the answer to that question doesn’t quite match the happy imagery. Pediatrics means a parent in tears because they cannot afford diapers for their infant. It means a family without stable housing, staying with a relative or friend but worried about where they will go next. It means a child missing too much school because she doesn’t have clean clothes to wear.
