Dear Mark –
I wanted to take a quick two minutes to thank you for the effort you put in to Endocrine News, and to express my feelings about the excellent content you routinely include. I always read it the day I receive it. I must also point out, however, that when I happily saw the article about ‘Why Endocrinology?” with the idea that I would give it out to all my younger trainees, imagine my dismay when there was not one pediatric endocrinologist interviewed.
Pediatric endocrinologists see almost every pathology an adult endocrinologist sees – and then more – since we are the physicians diagnosing all the congenital endocrinopathies, syndromes with endocrine components, and maternal endocrinopathies that affect the fetus. We feel we make a real difference on so many levels, and validation is an important part of work satisfaction.
Yes, we have the satisfaction of replacement therapy and of treating hormone excess, but from a clinical perspective it goes beyond that. We have a privileged role as genetic counselors – we are heavy users of molecular diagnosis, and must pursue genetic diagnoses when appropriate not only for the patient, but also for future siblings with the same congenital endocrinopathies – DSD, CAH, and PHP1a to name a few. Our practice is incredibly varied – and (at least for now) we are not overly solicited by the enormous demands of the type 2 diabetic community, which means that we routinely see at least 15 to 20 different ICD endocrine diagnoses in an average clinic day. At the same time our role in the prevention of obesity and its complications is paramount and as every parent knows, what you may not want to do for yourself you can often find the motivation to do for your child.
We play a critical role in transitioning our patients to adult care, and help to ensure that our adult colleagues who receive them are at ease with diagnoses that 30 years ago would not have had the same life expectancy or the same therapeutic approaches as today (childhood cancer survivors, T1D, and PWS come to mind here). Finally (at least in Canada), our practice is about 90% based in academic centers, which means that we have a mandate (and hopefully a bit more protected time) to do not only patient care, but also research and teaching. What could be better to keep our enthusiasm for the specialty and our quest for learning alive?
I wouldn’t have bothered writing this if it weren’t for the fact that when I was on the Steering Committee (2011 to 2014), the need to bring the Ped Endos to the Endocrine Society and to the annual ENDO meetings was frequently discussed. I personally think it is imperative, since we can all (Ped Endo, Adult Endo, PhD researcher) profit from these interactions from a patient care, research, and teaching perspective. Perhaps you might think of a future article comparing and contrasting pediatric and adult endocrinology practices, which will enable the Society to highlight what your Ped Endo members do and help generate interest for the pediatric content of the meeting.
Keep up the good work and thanks again.
Cheri Deal, PhD, MD, FRCPC, chief, Endocrine and Diabetes Service, CHU-Ste-Justine
Prof. of Pediatrics, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
Editor’s Response:
Dear Dr. Deal,
Thanks so much for your great email.
And I totally agree with your comments. In planning the article “Why Endocrinology?” my aim was to get as big a cross-section of the Endocrine Society membership as possible from all three constituencies from around the world, as well as from endocrinology veterans and early career endocrinologists. Inevitably some groups were going to be left out and I apologize for not including a pediatric endocrinologist.
Endocrine News is well aware of the importance of pediatric endocrinology as we routinely feature articles on endocrine disorders and how they affect babies, children, young adults, and even pregnant mothers. In fact, in the last year alone we’ve had features on how EDCs affect children (April 2014); delayed puberty (October 2014); and obesity in teens and children (July 2014). Further, we are planning more articles concerning endocrine disorders in children in 2015: Pediatric perspectives in insulin pumps and the artificial pancreas (May); pediatric thyroid cancer (June); EDCs during pregnancy (October); and there will likely be more.
Thanks again for your thoughtful email.
Regards,
Mark A. Newman
*******
Dear Mr. Newman and Dr. Santen,
After reading the March edition of Endocrine News, I was struck by the wonderful article “Why Endocrinology?” in juxtaposition with the “Fast FACTS about Endocrinologists.” After reading about the rewards and intellectual stimulation of being an endocrinologist, I was very disheartened by the 45% of endocrinologists who report feeling “burned out.” The statistic of “47% of endocrinologists 35 and younger feeling burned out” is even more shocking and distressing for our future.
I am writing to ask what the Endocrine Society is doing to address such a high percentage of burnout. This is clearly one of the largest challenges for our future.
After being in private practice in metropolitan Chicago for 20 years and now working as a clinician educator at a large community hospital, I have witnessed firsthand the effects of such burnout.
Thank you for listening.
Sally M. Pinkstaff, MD, PhD, FACE, FACP, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, assistant professor, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md.
Editor’s response:
Dear Dr. Pinkstaff:
First off, thank you for your comments regarding the article, “Why Endocrinology?” in the March issue. It was interesting to hear from so many different types of endocrinology professionals from around the world about why they chose endocrinology, and was also an effort to focus a bit more on the members and bring their lives and accomplishments to the forefront in that particular issue.
I know Dr. Santen has already sent along his white paper on the next generation of endocrinologists, but I wanted to let you know that Endocrine News has addressed the issue of career burnout recently; in the August 2013 issue, we published a story addressing this issue as well as the underlying causes and possible solutions.
Again, thank you for your kind comments and your concerns regarding this phenomenon.
Regards,
Mark A. Newman
Richard J. Santen’s response:
When president of the Endocrine Society… I was concerned about the next generation of endocrinologists. Please read the “white paper” that I have written about this group but not specifically about burnout. We formed a task force to address all issues of the next gen. I will call this to the attention of the Trainee and Career Development Core Committee to discuss the problem
Thank you for the alert,
Dr. Santen
[Editor’s Note: Upon reading the white paper that Dr. Santen authored — “Empowerment of the Next Generation of Endocrinologists” — Dr. Pinkstaff sent the following response.]
Dear Mr. Newman,
After reading the white paper by Dr. Santen and the article in Endocrine News, I hope that the Endocrine Society can develop and implement a strategy to significantly reduce burnout. In my opinion, there needs to be radical change with consideration for collective representation and demand for increased valuation, not only financial but also in personnel support. The corporate control of healthcare is demoralizing and mowing us down with an attitude that we are all “replaceable tomorrow.”
Again thanks for listening.
Sincerely,
Sally Pinkstaff, MD, PhD FACP, FACE
******
Dear Mr. Newman:
I read with interest your article in the new issue of Endocrine News (“Why Endocrinology?” March 2015). You note the article last summer as well, predicting a shortage of endocrinologists in the near future.
You note that in 2011, 70% of endocrinologists would still choose to go into the profession of medicine, while one year later only 57% would. Also in 2011, 70% would still choose endocrinology, while in 2012 only 38% would make the same choice.
The article goes on to a series of comments by a cross-section of endocrinologists on why they entered or are entering the field, including clinicians, clinical investigators, and basic investigators, both MDs and PhDs.
In view of the obvious decline in interest in the field, it would have been very interesting, and in my opinion strengthened the article to get comments from individuals who would not choose the field.
I am a retired endocrinologist who probably would not choose medicine again, but if I did, I would definitely choose endocrinology.
Again, thanks for the interesting article.
Thad C, Hagen, MD, professor emeritus of medicine, The Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Editor’s response:
Dr. Hagen,
I agree with you about asking physicians why they DIDN’T choose endocrinology. After I received your email I started thinking about perhaps doing a follow-up article, “Why I Didn’t Choose Endocrinology.”
However, since the goal of the Endocrine Society is to promote the practice and study of endocrinology, I would personally feel uncomfortable about an article that would potentially shine a negative light on this complicated and intriguing practice of medicine.
But you have certainly given me something to think about.
Regards,
Mark A. Newman
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