"Everyone's going through it and a lot of people are wondering these same questions and you are so normal."
What made you think there needed to be a platform for young people, such as me to learn some of these really important topics?
Well you know I.. we tend to in medicine, it's very easy for parents to bring their kids to doctor's appointments and then when we get older, uh, we tend to go to the doctor when we need some help but, there is that transition from childhood to adulthood that has a lot of big body and life changes and there is also a lot of confusion as to when to go to the doctor, who takes me to the doctor, is it okay to ask this question to a doctor? And so a lot of times questions and body changes that happen between, oh gosh, the ages of 10 and 20, sometimes go unanswered, and so it's really an age group that... has a lot of.. opportunity to learn about their body and we answer questions on the podcast, I answer questions on my social media but I am trying to answer some of those questions that they want to know but they are just not really sure if it is okay to ask or who to ask. So that is really where it [inaudible]. I know a lot of teenagers who are afraid to go to the doctor and ask these questions so, that is where it came from.
You did talk about the different questions that you had to use for the podcast so what comes to mind and what questions are you thinking about when developing the podcast before hand?
So we went through, our podcast has twenty-two episodes, as you probably know. And each one covers a different topic. And we want to include a little bit of science behind what is going on as well as some factual information. And so there are probably... 5 more seasons I could come up with, as far as topics that we could talk about but, we sat down and went through what are some of the major changes that happen to the body during this time period that we could really dive into and give a little bit more detail and background to. And so you know we came up with ones that are pretty basic, things that your body during puberty, um, like acne, body hair, some of those changes. And then some of the ones that are definitely a part of that transition but you don't necessarily think of immediately. But things like mental health and relationships. And so, um, we tried to be pretty broad and cover as many of those kind of the surface. The ones that we think about, um, relating to that time period. We tried to cover as many as we could but it was a group effort in thinking of what are the topics that we could really tackle and talk about in a scientific way and in a practical way.
So I know that you said that you could make five more seasons, which I would enjoy by the way *laughs*. So each episode is fairly short so like ranging from like 8 to 18 minutes, so you kind of touched on this but, how did you find a way to exclude or even include certain information that's really really important?
That is a great question. And it really is a group effort so um. I am obviously, my background is medicine and clinical training and so what I contribute is a lot of the basic uh, medical science information and then I've really relied on our team to let ne know sort of the extra fun stuff and what people really like to listen to. So, I kind of take my first, uh, attempt at writing an episode and then I send it to the team and they give me some feedback. As far as what I could talk a little bit more about or maybe you talked way too much about this and no one's gonna find that interesting. It might be interesting to a doctor, but not to someone who's listening, um, so I think it really is a team effort. And you noted the episodes really do range in time as well as participation. So we have uh, a group of uh, younger folks who contribute to our episodes that gives us questions and a little sprinkle of their own experiences. And so they really enhance a lot of the episodes so um, when they're comfortable talking about certain topics that are very happy to share their own experiences. And we try to kind of change up the podcast by adding those voices. And I really love those episodes. There are certainly topics that people aren't necessarily as comfortable sharing their own personal experience and it's a lot if just me talking and that's okay but I love the contribution of the team, the podcast team, as well as our young folks who give some of our best audio clips, uh, to our podcasts as well. So, it is a lot of input and a lot of different backgrounds that make out episodes what they are.
Yeah, I really love the aspect of other kids actually participating and asking questions and then centering the episode around that. In your professional opinion what are some harms that tweens or teens not learning these topics when they're young?
So, I think that is something we are getting better with as a society. But, we do have a long way to go. In that talking about our bodies and the changes and wondering if that's normal. A lot of times if we don't see it we are afraid to ask about it. Or, if we don't see other people talking about it we're afraid to ask about it. And I think the harm in that is growing up thinking that there's something wrong with you or something that you should be ashamed of. And so, again, what I really love about this podcast is that we are putting that information out there and saying it's okay. Everyone's going through it and a lot of people are wondering these same questions and you are so normal. So, I think that really what we are providing is reassurance and letting people know that it's okay to talk about it because keeping those feelings inside can lead to what I view as a problem with body acceptance and comfort in your own skin in the future. So I do think that talking about it or knowing that other people are talking about it is really helpful.
What do you hope adolescence will really take away from this podcast?
Kind of relates to your last question. In that, I really hope they know that it is okay to have questions about your body. And this is a time period where everyone's body is going through a lot of changes and that includes the changes that you can see on the outside as well as changes that you can't see. So, changes with your mind and you relationships. And so it is okay to feel kind of funny in your skin. But know that everybody else is going through this also. It 's okay to talk about it and you are normal. So I really hope that people, even though it's an uncomfortable time period. Know that you're okay and it gets better, I promise. It get's better for sure.