On Your Mark with Alisa Minkin, MD

In the beginning

I’ve wanted to be a doctor since I was three. When I was five, I colored all over my sister with indelible marker, so that she would look as though she had rubella — my parents did not appreciate that. I decided on pediatrics by age seven. I spent hours reading medical books and practicing on my younger siblings with the real stethoscope and otoscope my parents bought me.

I followed my dream through college at Johns Hopkins, medical school at NYU, and my pediatric residency at Brookdale Hospital, but at the end of my residency, I faced an enormous challenge: the birth of my third child, Rivka.

Rivka had medical issues from birth — she didn’t sleep, eat, or develop normally, and she began having seizures. I couldn’t continue working, and for a while I stayed home, spending countless hours taking her to specialists and researching her issues. Despite all my hard work, Rivka still does not have a diagnosis for her underlying condition (although she does have a diagnosis of autism). Today, I’ve come to a level of acceptance that it’s not my job to fix her — but it took me a long time to get to that point.

Getting back to work

Before Rivka was born I was so confident in my parenting skills. I was Dr. Mom and thought I knew it all. I took great pride that my older two children were so verbal and great sleepers. Then I had a kid who wouldn’t eat, sleep, or talk.