Cardiologist Terence Lin, M.D., finds it most rewarding when his patients tell him that they were able to go on vacation, to their child’s graduation or play with their grandchildren again because of the care they received from him.
“We’re fortunate to have the world’s best technology at our disposal,” says Dr. Lin, who works at PAMF’s Dublin and Fremont Centers. “Yet, we shouldn’t just use it because we can, but rather because it helps the person we’re taking care of.”
He feels he has really made a difference for his patients when their illness or disease does not become their life.
“When you think about what you want from your doctor, I think you want somebody who makes you well enough to live your life,” says Dr. Lin in this video, which is part of a series highlighting the diverse voices of PAMF physicians.
If you want to help teens learn lifelong health, wellness and organization habits, how do you reach them? Through their favorite mode of communication – their cell phones.
With that in mind, the PAMF partnered with RallyOn, a Silicon Valley-based online and mobile health application developer, to create an online health and wellness program – called Wellness Assessment for Youth to Get Organized or WAY2GO! – designed specifically for teenagers.
Teenagers start by taking a confidential, online wellness assessment that creates an immediate, individually tailored report with links to health and wellness resources from PAMF’s teen website. Once teens have completed the health assessment they are linked to RallyOn’s free health coaching service that helps them work on daily health goals highlighted in their report such as getting more sleep and exercise or eating better. This engaging tool helps teens develop a personal wellness plan that includes activity challenges and health tips delivered through text messaging.
Prompts to get more sleep, exercise or eat better arrive via text message or email.
The program launched in March, 2011, and now is active in several local high schools as well as a few in Ohio and Wisconsin. So far, 370 people have taken the WAY2GO! teen version. The young adult version just finished beta testing and will be live by April 2012, with a preteen version (that will require parents to register youth) coming within the year.
More than 250 teenagers from Santa Clara County high schools participated in a six-month pilot test of WAY2GO!, funded by a grant from The Health Trust, a local nonprofit organization that aims to advance health and wellness in Silicon Valley.
Today there are more than 75 new users a month, and PAMF has started training nutritionists and doctors on how to use the tool with their teen patients.
“We received wonderful feedback from the teenagers who participated in the WAY2GO! pilot program – they loved this innovative approach to managing their health,” says Nancy Brown, Ph.D., a PAMF education manager and WAY2GO! project director.
One of the best things about being a pediatric orthopedic physician is “getting kids back to being kids,” says Jaclyn Wey, M.D., who works at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation’s Fremont Center.
A Bay Area native, Dr. Wey feels at home in her community and treats her patients like she would her family and friends.
“One of the most rewarding things I do is to help my patients understand medicine, making sense of something that may be scary and foreign to them,” she says in this video, which is part of a series highlighting the diverse voices of PAMF physicians.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is urging consumers to carefully read the labels of liquid acetaminophen marketed for infants to avoid giving the wrong dose to their children.
A less concentrated form of the popular medication is being sold in some stores. Giving the wrong dose of acetaminophen can cause the medication to be ineffective if too little is given or cause serious side effects and, possibly, death if too much is given.
Although being moody and irritable is often normal for teenagers, depression is not simply a side effect of growing up. Depression is a serious medical condition that affects approximately one in five teens before they reach adulthood and is the leading cause of teen suicide. Parents often feel concerned and unsure of what to do when they think their teen may be depressed. Talking with your teens regularly, listening to what they have to say, and keeping up with their activities, go a long way to preventing and identifying any depression they may be experiencing.
Playing peek-a-boo, devouring the first Harry Potter book or scoring a goal for the team – good eye health and vision are critical so your child can learn, experience and enjoy the world around him or her to its fullest. From birth to the age of 10, the area of a child’s brain responsible for vision is still developing. That’s why it’s important to have your child’s eyes checked regularly, as many eye disorders and vision problems can be treated successfully if diagnosed early.
Body Mass Index (BMI), which is a measure of weight proportionate to height, is a standard used around the world to figure out when someone is overweight or obese. BMI is an estimate of body fat and a good gauge of your risk for diseases that are more likely to develop with excessive amounts body fat.
Did you know that South Asians are more susceptible to heart attack, stroke and diabetes? Compared to other ethnicities, South Asians are at a heightened risk to develop these chronic illnesses up to a decade earlier. Consider these facts:
The World Health Organization (WHO) projects that most of the world’s heart patients will be South Asians in the next few years.
One-third of diabetics worldwide are Indian.
50 percent of heart attacks in South Asians occur before the age of 55.
Nearly one half of Indians have Metabolic Syndrome, a precursor to diabetes and heart disease.
What’s the best way to manage your family’s many health care needs when you are a busy mom with three young children under six?
PAMF patient, Ming-May Wu says it’s simple – just use My Health Online.
“Much of how we run our daily lives is through the Internet,” says Wu. “It’s just as critical to be able to manage something as important as my health care online, too. It’s simply the best way to do it.”
Wu has been using My Health Online, PAMF’s online patient service since 2009 for herself, her husband Andrew, Ina, 5, Aidan, 3, and Hannah, 3 months.
Whether it’s messaging with her doctors, making and canceling appointments, viewing her children’s health records or checking any test results, Wu makes full use of My Health Online’s convenient features.
As an experienced mother of two children, she thought she knew everything to expect during pregnancy. Not so. When she was expecting Hannah, she developed a thyroid condition and gestational diabetes.
“Both these health problems were new to me, and I had a lot of questions and concerns,” says Wu. “It was so reassuring to be able to use My Health Online’s messaging service to communicate with my doctors, get quick responses and my many questions answered.”
“As a busy mom with two small, active children, it was so convenient to be able to check my test results from the comfort of my home, when I had the time.”
Through My Health Online, Wu was also able to view any upcoming required prenatal tests or doctor’s visits and coordinate these to make the most efficient use of her time – and make sure her husband could take care of their children while she was at the doctor’s office or at the lab.
Now she loves being able to manage her children’s health care through My Health Online’s child proxy feature that provides instant access to her children’s medical records.
“I feel so much more in control of their health,” says Wu. “I can quickly see what issues each of my children has had in the past, what treatments and medications they received, and I can anticipate any upcoming health issues. I don’t have to try and remember and keep track of this myself.”
This is particularly important and helpful in regards to her middle child, Aidan, who has asthma.
“By being able to review his medical record, it’s much easier to remain in control of his asthma. We can quickly renew his medication and make sure we always have it on hand.”
Wu also feels My Health Online’s messaging feature has helped strengthen her and her husband’s relationship with their children’s pediatrician, Kenneth Vereshagin, M.D., at PAMF’s Santa Clara Center.
“Through My Health Online messaging we can stay in close contact with Dr. Vereschagin,” says Wu. “He always gets back to us quickly with answers to our questions, providing just the reassurance we need. He knows everyone in our family. As well as being our children’s trusted doctor he has become a family friend.”
Additional Information from the Wu’s on how they use My Health Online:
All my historical test results that occurred before the advent of MHO were fully integrated into my account when I signed up back in 2009. This allowed me to compare my thyroid values from the second pregnancy, to the third pregnancy, when I started to have a thyroid condition for the first time.
Similarly, I am using my husband’s historical results to track his lipid profile (cholesterol, triglycerides, cardiac risk, etc.) over the years and to make more targeted dietary goals to lower his risk.
When Tanuja Bahal and her family moved to Fremont 14 years ago from Dubai, finding good health care was a priority. She was expecting her second child in just a couple of months.
“Moving to a different country and expecting a baby – this was a very stressful time and a huge transition,” says Bahal, who is originally from New Delhi, India.
“I was glad to find PAMF’s Fremont Center and immediately receive excellent health care. My OB/Gyn doctor was so reassuring. Although up to this time I’d only received health care from female doctors, he instantly made me feel comfortable. He went out of his way to make sure I had all the information I needed.”
Since 2005 Bahal has served in variety of roles at the India Community Center in Milpitas, a not-for-profit organization that provides a comprehensive range of services, support and resources to Indians of all ages in the local community. Since July of 2010 she has been the center’s executive director.
“I’ve come a long way since I first arrived in the United States,” says Bahal. “But, there’s been one constant – I’ve been able to entrust my – and my families’ – health care completely to PAMF.”
Over the many years that Bahal, her husband Dinesh and children, Hiren, 20, and Siya, 14, have been PAMF patients, they have experienced excellent care from many PAMF doctors, nurses and other health experts in PAMF’s OB/Gyn, Pediatrics, Family Medicine and Pediatric Ophthalmology departments, as well as in PAMF’s ancillary services such as the Laboratory.
“It’s so convenient to have all these wonderful services close to home and easily accessible in one location,” says Bahal.
The entire family currently sees family medicine doctor Kuttancheri Rema, M.D., at the Fremont Center for their primary care.
“We all have a very comfortable, easy relationship with Dr. Rema,” says Bahal. “She knows who we are, is always ready to listen and extremely professional and capable.”
As long time PAMF patients Bahal and her family have also been able to build close relationships with some of their regular PAMF health care providers. For example, during yearly check up visits for Hiren and Siya with James Ahn, M.D., a pediatric ophthalmologist at PAMF’s Palo Alto Center.
“We see the same lovely nurse each year during our visit with Dr. Ahn,” says Bahal. “We really enjoy that personal connection and her interest in our family. It’s a great feeling when someone knows and cares about you.”
Welcome! This blog is designed as a forum for engaging patients, their families and the community in conversations about health care, and to help promote health education and wellness with articles and tips from our doctors and staff from different departments. We welcome your comments and insight, however, please remember that this blog does not address specific patient medical issues or provide personalized medical advice. If you have a specific medical question, please contact your doctor directly.Thank you for visiting our blog.
Body Mass Index (BMI), which is a measure of weight proportionate to height, is a standard used around the world to figure out when someone is overweight or obese. BMI is an estimate of body fat and a good gauge of your risk for diseases that are more likely to develop with excessive amounts body fat.
Did you know that South Asians are more susceptible to heart attack, stroke and diabetes? Compared to other ethnicities, South Asians are at a heightened risk to develop these chronic illnesses up to a decade earlier. Consider these facts:
