Young Adults With Chronic Illness: How Can We Improve Transitions to Adult Care?
Visit Article
ABSTRACT: As another busy night unfolded in the pediatric emergency department, I opened the next patient’s chart: Male. Early 20s. Sickle cell disease. I felt a faint tug of familiarity while skimming through his medical record, but it was not until I walked into the room that I placed D.M. as a patient I had treated for a sickle cell pain crisis a few months earlier. Despite the pain he was experiencing at that time, I recalled his excitement as he shared his dreams of entering the medical field. Now, that enthusiasm was replaced with despondence, making him barely recognizable as the young man I knew before.