Paul L. Aronson, MD, MHS, is a pediatric emergency medicine physician who thrives on helping families during moments of acute stress.
“I enjoy the variety of conditions that I evaluate and treat in the pediatric emergency department and the diversity of the families I connect with,” says Dr. Aronson. “I always try to allay their fears and reduce the stress they are experiencing. I am often inspired by children’s and their parents’ resilience and strength despite significant adversity.”
Dr. Aronson treats children and adolescents who come to the pediatric emergency department with a wide variety of conditions, from infections to chronic diseases to trauma. “An important part of providing care is listening to and understanding the parents’ or guardian’s concerns and partnering with them in making decisions to evaluate and treat their child,” he says. “I believe that parents feel reassured that they are in the right place for care. And receiving the right care means we are partners with open communication.”
When Dr. Aronson is not working in the emergency department, he conducts research focused on how to best evaluate and manage young infants with fever, specifically those in the first two months of life.
“Approximately 10 percent of these infants will harbor a serious bacterial infection, and so they undergo a lot of testing and are often hospitalized until we know for sure whether an infection is present,” he says. “My research aims to help develop improved strategies to manage these infants, including how best to communicate and make decisions with parents.”
Dr. Aronson is an associate professor of pediatrics and of emergency medicine at Yale School of Medicine.
