The field of Pediatric medicine is a specialty founded in public health. As pediatricians, my colleagues and I show up for children every single day to understand their health, well-being, and social needs to help better support families in our community.

Unfortunately, I have encountered endless patient interactions that have shown me that our institutions fall short in providing children with the tools to thrive. I can think of countless stories from families that support this: like the parent that didn’t feel comfortable letting their child go in their front yard because they found used needles in the grass, or the family that received $8 a day for food.

Often, addressing all of the structural issues leaving an impact on a child feels insurmountable. Pediatricians are primed to be excellent advocates for children in non-traditional ways, like community engagement and legislative advocacy, as we have been extensively trained to understand many of the components needed to support a healthy childhood. Advocacy looks different for many physicians, from working with a community non-profit to being a congressional senator.

As part of my short journey advocating for child health, I ultimately decided to complete my medical training at the University of Rochester due to their unique focus on community advocacy. The Hoekelman Center at the University of Rochester allowed me to collaborate with a community organization to link the patients I saw each day in our clinic to a community resource that would ultimately allow them to have a safe place to be physically active.

Outside of this, I have visited many legislative offices to discuss public health policy, became an active member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and now have the opportunity to work with The Children’s Agenda to continue to learn how pediatricians can be allies to the community. These are just a few examples of the way that I have had the opportunity to step outside of clinical medicine to make a difference for children across the country and certainly does not cover the scope of endless opportunities to advocate for child health. Overall, being able to impact our community outside of my traditional role as a physician has been extremely meaningful, and knowing there are so many community members working to make the world a better place for kids keeps me motivated to continue contributing to this work!

Marisa DeSanto, DO

To learn more about how poverty impacts a child’s well-being and the role pediatricians can play, visit Poverty and Child Health (aap.org)

To learn more about how The Children’s Agenda is advocating to improve the health of New York’s children, visit Health and Safety – The Children’s Agenda (thechildrensagenda.org)

Marisa DeSanto is a pediatrician and Academic Pediatric Research Fellow at the University of Rochester/Golisano Children’s Hospital. She is an active leadership member of the American Academy of Pediatrics and has goals to help bridge the gap between legislators and healthcare to help promote better health policy.