The adolescent years are a time of transition. Teens and young adults may have questions about changes they are experiencing physically, emotionally, mentally, and sexually.
Our unique team of professionals is here to help address all of the questions, concerns, and hard-to-talk about scenarios that you are experiencing in your life during this transition. We encourage teens and young adults to get involved with the responsibility of their healthcare and work to promote healthy growth and development through this transition to adulthood.
Your Heath Care Rights
Information for teens about their rights to consent and confidentiality in health and mental health care.
Building Healthy Relationships
We also offer education, counseling, advocacy, and help for those in unhealthy and abusive relationships.
Sex Education
Offers message boards, text services, online chat, and advice columns on a variety of relationship and sexuality topics.
- Chat by texting “PPNOW” to 774636 (PPINFO)
Making a Difference
Resource for community and worldwide social action campaigns for teens and young adults.
Mental Health Resources
Tips for looking after your emotional health, info about, and resources for depression.
Substance Abuse Resources
We have mental health and substance abuse resources and information.
Suicide Prevention & Crisis Intervention
Suicide or death is not a healthy way to escape mental health issues. We have resources to help when you feel desperate, hopeless, or feels like there may be no other option.
Healthy Eating
Tips on healthy eating, reading nutrition labels, and activity guides for teens
Your Heath Care Rights
Information for teens about their rights to consent and confidentiality in health and mental health care.
Building Healthy Relationships
We also offer education, counseling, advocacy, and help for those in unhealthy and abusive relationships.
Sex Education
Offers message boards, text services, online chat, and advice columns on a variety of relationship and sexuality topics.
- Chat by texting “PPNOW” to 774636 (PPINFO)
Making a Difference
Resource for community and worldwide social action campaigns for teens and young adults.
Mental Health Resources
Tips for looking after your emotional health, info about, and resources for depression.
Substance Abuse Resources
We have mental health and substance abuse resources and information.
Suicide Prevention & Crisis Intervention
Suicide or death is not a healthy way to escape mental health issues. We have resources to help when you feel desperate, hopeless, or feels like there may be no other option.
Healthy Eating
Tips on healthy eating, reading nutrition labels, and activity guides for teens
How long can I see my pediatrician?
We provide professional medical advice to infants through 21 years of age. Pediatricians have training in taking care of children from birth through adolescence and even into young adulthood. Pediatricians focus on child and teen development and are prepared to take care of all issues that teenagers face. We want to make sure our office is comfortable and inviting for teens and young adults as well as for the little kids.
As a teen, can I talk to my doctor about personal stuff in confidentiality?
We encourage you to be open with your doctor about all of your concerns. We do ask a lot of personal questions! We have policies in place from our front desk to our doctors and nurses to the medical records and billing departments to keep your information confidential. We think it’s important to ask questions to help identify risk-taking behaviors that teens sometimes engage in. We want to make sure you are safe in all the areas of your life, and to evaluate your physical, emotional, and mental health needs.
There are certain incidences when we will need to tell your parent something that you told us confidentially, for example, if we are concerned you might harm yourself or others or that you are being hurt.
What kinds of services and appointments do you offer?
We can manage most issues in our office. If we are unable to handle the issue in office, we are always available to help you navigate your choices and point you in the right direction.
Many of our providers prescribe some forms of birth control such as the pill, the patch and the shot. If you’re interested in a long-acting reversible contraceptive such as the implant or IUD we can refer you to a specialist.
We can evaluate and treat conditions such as anxiety, ADHD, and depression. We can also make recommendations for counselors and therapists. At times we do refer to psychiatrists or use the PALs line for immediate telephone consults with psychiatrists when needed.
How do I start becoming responsible for my medical care?
Eventually, you will be solely responsible for your medical care. Part of our job is help you transition from seeing a pediatric provider with your parent to accessing health care from an adult provider on your own. Here are some things for you to work on now to make that transition easier.
- Work on talking directly to your provider. During teen well visits we will ask your parents to step out of the room to talk to you one on one.
- Learn your personal medical history (things like diagnoses, hospitalizations, medications and allergies) and ask your parent about health problems in your family. You can keep all your medical information in a note on your phone, in a file at home, or on a card in your wallet. Some useful apps include Evernote, My Medical, and the Health App on iPhones.
- Know who all your medical providers are (primary doctor, dentist, any specialists or therapists you see) and have their phone numbers.
- Consider calling to make your own appointment next time you need to come in. You’ll need to know if you are coming in for a physical or a sick visit. You’ll be asked the reason for the sick visit. You can be vague or say it’s for a personal issue if you need to. Have your contact and insurance information handy.
What changes with my medical care when I turn 18?
When you turn 18 the biggest change is that, unless we have your written consent, we cannot share any of your medical information with your parents. So if we need to talk to you about a lab result, or clarify a prescription, we will have to talk to you directly. It’s a small change but one that sometimes surprises teens and parents. You can ask for a form from our front desk staff if you want to give your parent consent to act on your behalf after you turn 18. You will need to renew this form yearly. You can revoke access anytime.
If I'm on my parent's insurance, will they know that I had an appointment?
If you are covered under your parent’s insurance, as most teens are, your parents will receive an Explanation of Benefits (EOB) after each visit. If you have concerns about what information may be included in that, please ask your provider.
What vaccines are recommended for teens?
There are several vaccines that are recommended for adolescents between ages 11 to 18. Below is a brief summary, for more detailed information see http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines or http://www.chop.edu/centers-programs/vaccine-education-center.
The Tdap vaccine is required for school attendance in Alaska. It is a booster dose, meaning you received the primary series of this vaccine as a baby. The “t” refers to tetanus. Tetanus is transmitted by a spore that lives in the soil and can cause lockjaw, which is a potential fatal paralysis. You can get it when the spore gets into your bloodstream (the classic example is from stepping on a rusty nail). The “p” is pertussis or whooping cough. This illness can cause a chronic cough that lasts for months and for which there is no treatment. It can cause respiratory failure and even death particularly in young infants and the elderly but occasionally in healthy young people.
The Gardasil, Menactra, Bexsero, and flu vaccines are recommended vaccines but are not currently required by Alaska school. Gardasil is a series of two or three shots that protect against the HPV virus. This is a sexually transmitted virus that can cause cervical cancer in women, mouth and throat cancer in men, and genital warts in both. The Menactra and Bexsero vaccines protect against a bacterium called meningococcus, which can cause rapidly progressive infections of the bloodstream and brain. This illness is more common in college dorms and military barracks. Finally, we recommend an annual flu shot for all our patients. The flu typically causes a week to 10 days of fever, cough, sore throat, body aches and upset stomach. Every year thousands of Americans die from complications of the flu such as pneumonia.
Side effects of the vaccines are typically mild. The most common is pain at the injection site for a day or two. Occasionally patients will have low fevers or achiness afterward; however, all of the above vaccines are “inactivated” so they cannot cause disease (even the flu shot). If you have a symptom after getting a vaccine that you think might be a side effect, please call our office.
