The Peds Pod by Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital

Human papillomavirus is the most common sexually transmitted infection. Dr. Michelle Bowden explores HPV vaccines and why they are so incredibly important.

Dr. Sandra Arnold answers the most frequently asked parent questions about the COVID-19 vaccine that has just been approved for children between the ages of 5-11 years old.

Clinical trials are essential to bring new treatments to the kids who need them. Dr. Dennis Black, Le Bonheur's vice president of research and the scientific director at the Children's Foundation Research Institute, answers the common questions he hears about pediatric clinical trials, how clinical trials work and which kids benefit from them.

Dr. Mark Corkins explores Short Bowel syndrome, intestinal rehabilitation, and how to help children afflicted with Short Bowel.

Jennifer Taylor discusses drowsy driving, how Safe Kids Mid-South helps bring awareness to this issue, and how they try to prevent it.

Dr. James Wheless explains the difference between genetic epilepsies and other epilepsies children might have, how parents can find out if their child has a genetic epilepsy, and treatment options available.

At a children's hospital, where patients often can't tell their doctors what they think is wrong, medical mysteries can become especially intensified. Dr. Sandra Arnold discusses diagnosing Infantile Botulism as well as how she teaches the next generation of doctors how they can solve similar medical mysteries.

In an effort to reduce hospitalizations of diabetes patients, Le Bonheur has developed two clinics, Fresh Start and BEGIN, for children and adolescents with poorly controlled type 1 diabetes. Led by Le Bonheur Endocrinologist Kathryn Sumpter, MD, these clinics use a comprehensive approach to diabetes control, including education, psychoscocial support, social workers and easy access to diabetes providers.

Vaccines to protect against COVID-19 are now available for adolescents and teens 12 and up. This is an encouraging development and a big step forward in the fight to end this pandemic. The pediatric experts at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital know that parents want to make informed decisions about their children’s health care and may have questions about whether the vaccine is right for their child. Here to address some of those questions and concerns is Division Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Dr .Sandy Arnold.

A secondary effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the significant increase in eating disorder diagnoses and relapses in the pediatric population. Eating disorders are among the most fatal psychiatric illnesses, so concerns raised by parents, friends, teachers, or others should be taken seriously and evaluated by a physician as soon as possible. However, eating disorders take many forms and can be tricky to identify. Dr. Michelle Bowden, a General Pediatrician at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital who specializes in adolescent medicine and is an Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, is here to talk with us about Le Bonheur’s Eating Disorders Clinic, as well as how parents can receive support while navigating their child’s eating disorder.