P is for pediatrics, passion, parenthood, patience and professionalism. P, however, is not for perfection.

 

Sara F. Patterson, MD, learned long ago that rather than give in to the frustration of trying to achieve the unattainable she was much better off maintaining a sense of perspective … and humor. It's a quality that makes her approachable and instantly puts both parents and young patients at ease.

 

The board certified pediatrician has been with Goodlettsville Pediatrics for nine years and thrives on the challenges and opportunities to care for patients as they grow. "I get them from the day they are born … and Lord willing, I get to send them off to college," she said of relationships built over time.

 

For her, the decision to become a physician started as a very young child. "My mom tells me when I was three, she brought home a doctor's kit for my brother and a nurse's kit for me. I pitched a fit and said, 'why can't girls be doctors, too?' And that was it."

 

Originally from Kalamazoo, Mich., Patterson moved to Nashville for medical school at Vanderbilt. The daughter of educators, she was also drawn to teaching and had the honor of being selected chief resident for the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt from 2000-2001. "That's almost exclusively a teaching year," she said of the experience. She still enjoys the teaching aspect of her profession … whether it be training medical students and residents or teaching parents and patients the necessary skills to optimize health.

 

Her introduction to Goodlettsville Pediatrics came during a preceptorship in her second year of residency. She was immediately drawn to the team spirit and welcoming feel of the practice. When she joined the group two years later, she was the very new mother of twin sons — Fletcher and Jimmy — who were barely five months old at the time. Three years later, she and husband Jimmy, an attorney with Ogletree Deakins, welcomed Sophie to their young family.

 

"I loved the camaraderie of this office. I loved that you could be a wife and mom and still be a doctor. I liked that you could be a part of the team no matter how many hours you worked," she recalled of her decision to sign on to the practice. "I was never made to feel less just because I worked part time."

 

Patterson noted she feels like she has hit upon the right mix of personal and professional. She works three-and-a-half days a week and takes her turn at Saturday rotation. "I love my time here, and I cherish my time at home," she said.

 

She readily admits her busy life impacts how she practices medicine. "I think my mission statement is 'no guilt parenting,'" Patterson noted with a laugh. "Everybody needs to be cut some slack," she added. It's that type of insight that puts parents of colicky babies, picky eaters and daredevil teenagers at ease … and ultimately opens the door for constructive conversations about practical solutions.

 

Although famously laid back, Patterson is an absolute stickler about some things. Each of her children has been swimming since a very young age, and all three are on a summer swim team. "We actually started the boys at right around 14 months. We felt it was important to have that healthy respect for water without being afraid," she said of early lessons. 

 

With the number of drownings and near drownings at an alarming rate in Nashville this summer, Patterson said it was interesting to note the American Academy of Pediatrics has amended the policy on water education. "Prior to this year, it said they did not recommend swimming lessons until four or five years old because it gave a false sense of security. This year, 2010, they amended it down to one year old for infant survival-type swimming lessons," she explained.

 

Patterson is a proponent of young swimmers having the opportunity to get their heads wet. Water wings, she said, do a disservice to children by artificially keeping a child above water. When an accident occurs, however, a child without water wings is apt to panic. With survival swim lessons, she noted, young children have been taught to blow bubbles and float on their backs.

 

Of course, she adamantly stated, there's no substitution for supervision. "There always has to be one adult dedicated to watching children when they are in the pool at all times … period." She added, that means no texting, popping in and out of the pool area, chatting or consuming alcohol while on duty.

 

Patterson is equally passionate about the importance of immunizations and rebuffs the notion that vaccines trigger autism. "It's close to my heart because I think there's so much misinformation out there about this disorder." Son Jimmy has been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, which falls on the lower end of the autism spectrum. Enrolled at Currey-Ingram, Patterson said, "He does very well academically in school, but the social aspect is very difficult for him."

 

Although not scientific research, she pointed out her family, nevertheless, presents an interesting case study. Jimmy and twin brother Fletcher have been raised in the same environment, eaten the same foods, and adhered to the same vaccine schedule, yet only one has a form of autism.

 

In fact, Patterson said, vaccines have continued to become safer and purer. "Modern medicine has really revolutionized vaccines to the point where residents and medical students I teach now have not seen real cases of some diseases such as chicken pox and Hib … they are just text book diseases to them."

 

Of course there are still plenty of real world diseases, disorders and minor disasters that require a pediatrician's immediate attention. That's why Patterson always has a ready answer when her own children ask why she has to go to work. "I love what I do … Mommy loves being a doctor. This is what God wants Mommy to do … to take care of sick children."