As a parent of a two young children herself, Dr. Kathleen Vedock practices what she preaches. She knows firsthand the critical importance of the first five years in a child’s development, and she is a vocal champion of that message to both parents and her fellow pediatricians.
Recently, Dr. Vedoc​​k was invited to share her thoughts about early childhood for the latest edition of Pediatric Digest, a publication of the Arizona Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Dr. Vedock has served as the health services provider representative on the First Things First Cochise Regional Partnership Council for three years. With that in-depth knowledge of the family resources available through FTF, she offered several suggestions on how pediatricians across Arizona can partner with FTF. These included simply encouraging families to visit the FTF website for information and resources, all the way up to applying to serve on a local regional council.
She wrote in her article, “As pediatricians, we work diligently to ensure infants, toddlers and preschoolers are as healthy as possible. By partnering with FTF and connecting parents to the FTF resources in our communities, we can also help ensure that our kids arrive at school prepared to succeed in kindergarten and beyond.”
“First Things First: A Pediatrician’s Partner in Promoting Positive Brain Development” by Kathleen Vedock, DO, FAAP
Her message reached the Pediatric Digest’s readership of over 1,100 including the Chapter’s entire membership of pediatric healthcare providers, most of whom are primary care pediatricians. The digest is also distributed to Arizona child advocacy organizations and state department leadership, and the leadership of other Arizona medical professional associations.​​​​
Angela Mussi is community engagement​ officer at First Things First.​
