President’s Letter from C. Buddy Creech – Welcoming Pediatric ID Fellows

July is an exciting time at our medical centers. Fellows are becoming new faculty members and newly minted pediatricians are entering pediatric ID fellowships that will teach them how to care for children with some of the most complex medical needs.  

Nearly two decades ago, I picked up the ID consult pager with enthusiasm and trepidation. The first three calls I received as a pediatric ID fellow involved the following three scenarios:

1. A child with chronic granulomatous disease who, through a complex social situation, had lost access to his prophylactic medications;
2. A child with Hyper IgM syndrome who had vague symptoms of fatigue and arthralgia that his mother said was his “Alcaligines acting up;”  
3. An emergency department physician who wanted to know the most appropriate antibiotic management for a child who had experienced a rooster attack to the face.

On the one hand, these situations were esoteric and nearly impossible to train for. On the other, they scratched an itch that I had discovered during residency – a desire to be challenged by the complicated, nuanced clinical cases that pediatric ID was famous for.

While July is a time for me to remember fondly these 20 years in pediatric ID, it is also a time for us to encourage one another during these times of transition.

To our new fellows: Welcome to the family! Let us know what we can do at PIDS to assist you in your training. Meanwhile, be curious. Read. Do not be afraid to ask ‘why.’ Fight the temptation to provide an answer without ensuring that those you are working with understand your thought process. Cultivate a love for pathogenesis and the underlying biology of the diseases we see.

To our senior fellows and faculty who will mentor our new fellows: Thank you for being a part of PIDS and for continuing to support our mission. Remain curious. Take time to read. Continue to ask ‘why.’ Fight the temptation to provide an answer without ensuring that your fellows and residents understand your thought process. Fall in love again with pathogenesis and the underlying biology of the diseases we see.   Regardless of your stage of training or the type of work you find yourself doing at this point in your career, let us continue to commit ourselves to the work of promoting the health and well-being of children through the prevention and control of infectious diseases worldwide.