The heart of pediatric radiology

Abstract

We all know that preparing to care for children as a pediatric radiologist requires considerable knowledge, skill and experience. It also takes time — a typical pediatric radiologist will have spent 4 years in medical school, 5 years in radiology residency, and another year or 2 in fellowship. Some have even completed other residencies, such as 3 years of general pediatrics. Less clear is the fact that in addition to excellences of cognition, technique and judgment, pediatric radiology requires excellences of the heart, which we neglect at our patients’ and our own peril. In fact, to become the best pediatric radiologists we are capable of being, we must be prepared to have our hearts broken. It is only when are hearts have been broken that they can be remade, deepening our understanding and compassion for the children we serve. We human beings have not always cared well for our children. At many points in human history, childrenwere seen as a threat or a liability. The ancient Greek Spartans required that babies born with deformities be left to die of exposure. Even today, it is common to speak of the immense cost of raising a child, currently estimated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture at $234,000 [1]. Children have also been treated as property. Ancient Roman law considered them a form of chattel. And more recently, children have been exploited as laborers, often to the great detriment of their health and well-being. For example, in late 18th and early 19th centuries in England, young boys were employed as chimney sweeps, often jammed up into flues against their will. Some harms were immediate, such as asphyxiation or immolation. Others took longer to manifest. The first occupational cancer, a form of scrotal carcinoma, was identified in 1775 by surgeon Percivall Pott among chimney sweeps [2]. Of their plight, Potts wrote: