Christian Hietanen, DO, MS

There are so many good ones! I must have watched Cars and Frozen at least 500 times when my kids were young. That said, I think my favorite is Finding Nemo with The Lion King a close second.

Goodnight Moon is my absolute favorite children's book. I remember my mother reading it to me as a kid and we used to read it to my son before he went to sleep. I think I can recite it from memory!

I loved Matchbox cars! I think my old collection is still living in the attic of my childhood home.

My grandmother. She is soon to be 99 years old and has faced innumerable challenges yet always finds a way to persevere. Her resiliency and wisdom are truly remarkable.

I am an avid runner and a huge outdoor lover. During my free time, you will almost certainly find me outdoors. In the summer, it will be hiking and kayaking and in the winter, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and ice skating. I love tending to my garden. I also really enjoy traveling, especially out west. The desert is my favorite area to visit. Lastly, I continue to teach in an adjunct role at Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Middletown, so I will occasionally be there on my days off.

My childhood pediatrician from Buffalo, Dr. Putnam, was my inspiration. I dealt with a lot of ear infections and chronic strep throat as a kid, so I was constantly at the doctor's office. I almost ALWAYS had a bottle of Amoxicillin in the fridge. Dr. Putnam was the kindest and most compassionate doctor. He always made me feel at ease and cared for. I remember he used to wear this little stuffed koala bear on his stethoscope. When I decided to go into medicine, I immediately knew that I wanted to go into pediatrics to try and emulate the amazing physician that Dr. Putnam was.

Having been in the field for more than 20 years, I think my experience is one of my strong suits. I am also one who likes to spend a lot of time getting to know my patients and families. I enjoy finding out what activities, hobbies, or sports my patients partake in and where my families like to go on vacation or for fun. I find these things to be really nice icebreakers at the start of future visits, helping to both build rapport and reduce anxiety for the kids. I have also worked in medical education for the past several years and a large part of that role involved teaching and assessing the "soft skills" in medicine such as empathy, compassion, and humanism. In a very busy world, these values are sorely needed so I try to bring them into every encounter.

I think one of the most important components of caring for children with special needs is helping with care coordination. Many children with special needs have multiple specialists that they see, so this is of the utmost importance to ensuring all needs are met.