GetzWell Articles | GetzWell Personalized Pediatrics

Screen Time: Empowered Choices

May 18, 2023

For most of us, the COVID-19 pandemic gave us some new best friends: our screens. During lockdown, screens allowed us to stay connected with people and gave many of us a way to continue to “go to work” and earn a livelihood. Screens gave children a way to continue to attend school. More than ever we turned to screens for entertainment and escape. It was such a unique period that the American Academy of Pediatrics relaxed its guidelines for screen time. As we embraced the advantages that screens and technology offered, we adapted remarkably quickly: we started spending more and

GetzWell’s New Offering: from Stress to Wellness – StressWell!

April 21, 2023

We’re so excited to announce our newest physician, Rachel Gilgoff, MD, who uses a cutting-edge approach to treat and manage stress biology in children and adults. With her expertise we are expanding our services to include: From Stress to Wellness – StressWell! Dr. Gilgoff offers novel interventions and strategies which can balance an overactive stress response system. Is your child struggling? Is your family feeling stressed? Have you been getting the run around and not accessing the answers you want or need? Maybe you prefer to avoid medical treatments, especially pharmaceuticals, but don’t know where to turn. As a parent, do

Teaching Children About Boundaries, Advice from our Pediatricians

April 19, 2023

Our San Francisco pediatricians consider the holistic needs of children, and psychological and emotional skills like “boundary setting” are valuable skills to teach. “The most compassionate people are also the most boundaried,” said Dr. Brene Brown, American professor, author, and podcast host known for her work on courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy. Teaching your kids about boundaries, both setting boundaries for themselves as well as respecting those of others, will serve them over a lifetime. A group of researchers from North Dakota State University argues that learning to set age-appropriate boundaries is an integral factor in young people’s development. Boundaries can be

What Toys Babies Need, According to a San Francisco Pediatrician

April 14, 2023

Dr. Julia Getzelman is often asked, “what toys do babies need?” According to Dr. Getzelman, pediatrician and founder of GetzWell Personalized Pediatrics in San Francisco, what babies most need in the first two years is attuned parenting, or attuned caregiving. What is Attuned Parenting? Attuned parenting involves being responsive to the baby’s emotions. For example, they benefit from mirroring for their facial expressions. They need you to talk to them and read to them. Music, for example, is a wonderful thing to share with babies and children. But babies don’t really need toys. Toddlers will enjoy discovering all the nooks

Why Are GetzWell Pediatrician Appointments So Long?

April 5, 2023

Dr. Julia Getzelman, founder of GetzWell Personalized Pediatrics in San Francisco, answers the question: why are GetzWell appointments so long? Her question back is, “Why are the visits at a typical pediatrician practice so short?!!” The national average for a pediatrician visit is only 12 minutes and there is just no way you can accomplish everything that needs to get done in that time. At GetzWell, we take a full hour at every wellness visit to answer all the parents’ questions. This extra time also allows the child to be comfortable. Our pediatricians take special care with shots (we use

Short Doctor Visits Lead to Poor Outcomes

March 27, 2023

Short Doctor Visits Lead to Poor Outcomes At GetzWell, we have always known that more time spent with patients during office visits and the quality time dedicated by our providers and staff benefit our patients. Confirming our fundamental beliefs and approach, a new study by Medical Care, part of the American Public Health Association, has found that “shorter visits between patients and their primary care physicians may be associated with a higher likelihood of inappropriate prescribing.” According to the study, the average primary care visit lasts 18 minutes. The national average for pediatric visits is 12 minutes. In contrast, at

Ultra-Processed Frankenfoods: Convenient, but worth the risk?

March 14, 2023

The Food Your Children Eat “What you put at the end of your fork is more powerful medicine than anything you will find at the bottom of a pill bottle.” – Dr. Mark Hyman, MD One of the most important ways to support children’s health is through the foods they eat. From when your baby starts eating solids to toddlerhood when they can start to participate in making (and eating!) rainbow salads, every day of every stage of development presents new opportunities–and challenges–to eating real, nourishing food. Making the consistent choice to eat real, whole foods can be challenging. Real

Pediatric Food Allergies Are On The Rise

January 23, 2023

Pediatric Food Allergies are on the Rise: Support Your Child’s Microbiome Julia Getzelman, MD – CEO & Founder Getzwell Personalized Pediatrics Food allergies are a hot topic, and with good reason. In the past 14 years, there has been a 50% increase in pediatric food allergies! Let’s talk about this alarming shift, because not only do we need to keep our children who have food allergies safe and healthy, but we must do what we can to prevent food allergies from developing in the first place. “Allergies happen when the immune teams make the mistake of identifying something harmless as

Winter Sickness Explosion 2022

November 17, 2022

What has been going on this fall? Our providers are seeing kids and parents getting one cold after another, hand-foot-mouth disease, diarrhea, RSV, strep — it’s already been super tough on families and we’re not even officially in flu season yet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53sS6lZGZv8 Why is this happening? It’s due at least in part to more relaxed mask-wearing compared to the last two years. During the height of COVID, when mask-wearing was mandatory, respiratory viruses weren’t entering noses, mouths and eyes, so we all stayed quite healthy. That’s the good news. The flip side is that young children in particular didn’t have

COVID & Flu Vaccines at GetzWell

October 11, 2022

COVID & Flu Vaccines at GetzWell COVID Shots For parents and caregivers wanting to vaccinate their youngest children, GetzWell now has Moderna COVID vaccines for children 6 months to 5 years. This vaccine follows a two-injection schedule, 4-8 weeks apart, and it is ¼ the strength of the adult dose (or 25 mcg per dose). We also have the Moderna bivalent booster (for those 18 years and older) and the Pfizer bivalent booster (for those 12 years and older) should any of our teens or parents want to get their boosters at GetzWell. Please contact us to schedule your appointment(s).

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