October 22, 2025

508 - Pediatric Rheumatology with Dr. Cristina Saez, MD

23 minutes

Dr. Carole Keim welcomes Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatric Rheumatology Dr. Cristina Saez, MD, to The Baby Manual to discuss what rheumatology is and how pediatric rheumatology works. She studies and has training in autoimmune diseases, specifically ones affecting bones, muscles, joints, or multiple organ systems, in children.

Dr. Saez tells Dr. Keim that though she sees children for different things, the most common is joint pain. Juvenile arthritis is likely the most common rheumatologic diagnosis seen in her clinic. Cristina details how joint pain presents in children and the method of assessment used in diagnosis. She also treats a lot of recurrent fevers and tells Carole how fevers can present in diseases that affect the immune system, which is what she works to assess. Practical information on how to identify joint pain, what grade of fever should prompt medical intervention, and the types of medication used in treatment are all explained by Dr. Saez in this insightful episode.

Dr. Cristina Saez, MD:

Dr. Cristina Saez is the Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatric Rheumatology at Stanford Medicine. She graduated from Rice University with a BA in Kinesiology with a focus on Health Sciences in 2015.

After graduation, she started medical school at Baylor College of Medicine. While there, she was an active member of the Pediatric Student Association and participated in the Medical Ethics Track. Outside of class, she enjoyed mentoring younger students through the Anatomy Buddies tutoring program and the Peer Resource Network program. She still kept in touch with the Kinesiology Department and even helped teach undergraduate students in the gross anatomy course. During her later years, she helped develop a protocol within the Pediatric Rheumatology department at Texas Children’s Hospital to help adolescent patients prepare for the transition from pediatric to adult care.

Resources discussed in this episode: