A few months ago, I was experiencing some significant stress in multiple microsystems of my life and was implementing many of my tried-and-true strategies to ground myself in my values and practice self-compassion.

One night at dinner, my children were asking about differences I had in schools. It is important to know that, as the daughter of a service member, I moved nearly every year of my childhood across Europe and the United States. In this discussion, I brought up my experience in late elementary school with project-based learning and how much I loved it. One of our project-based learning content areas was Whales. Every subject centered around whales; in math we did word problems calculating migratory distances, in language we read and wrote stories about whales, and in music we wrote and performed songs about whales.  My small group worked on was a parody of TLC’s song “Waterfalls” and while I don’t remember it all now, “Don’t go chasin’ Whales no more” is forever in my mind.  My kids thought this was hilarious and really enjoyed my impromptu dinnertime musical theater performance.

Simultaneously, at work I have incredibly creative colleagues who suggested that we make logo apparel for our Integrated Care Team. That night, in about 20 minutes, the initial verses of “GATHER for Integrated Care” set to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme, flowed like breaking a dam and letting the water rush out.  It was a value- driven play-filled creative outlet that provided my mind with exactly what I needed in that moment.  I tweaked the verses over the next day and to my then 4 and 7-year-olds delight and embarrassment, respectively, I performed it for my family the next day.  I have since shared the rap with a few colleagues who I am fortunate to call friends and my incredible integrated care team BHCs.  

Since that time, I have also written “Gender Euphoria” to the tune of Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA”.   While this is likely not a lucrative new career path, it is an outlet that can so playfully and beautifully ground me in my values.  Friedrich Froebel said, “Play is the highest expression of human development in childhood, for it alone is the free expression of what is in a child’s soul”. This is what often draws us to Pediatrics. My hope is that we all remember to play, we need that now more than ever – no matter our age.  

GATHER for Integrated Care Rap set to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme, by Alli Allmon Dixson:

Now this is a story all about how

PCBH stays around

And I'd like to take a minute

Just sit right there

Listen as we GATHER for integrated care


Stressed, depressed, anxious, no sleep?

Cancer, health behavior, high A1C? 

If you come to clinic, we are there

Sharing in all aspects of your care

You might ask yourself, how can this exist?

It’s because we are all trained as Generalists 

 
No care access, give a sense of doom?

No need! We take care to you in exam rooms

Always get us, we expect interruption

See patients right now to improve function 

Warm hand offs or one on one

Access, that’s right we have a ton 

 
Teams are at the center of all we do

We collaborate with your med docs too

On your team is where we want be

Come to your clinic, where you like to be seen

Episodic care, we make each visit count,

With goals you create, there’s no doubt.

 
High patient volume? Better believe it

10 visits daily, is what we commit

Outcomes improve, the data’s clear, when the integrated care team is near. 

Caring for the population is our goal

Understanding your context is our role

 
We teach, we learn, we Educate 

And our medical teams reciprocate 

Peds, Family Med, and Specialty

IM, Rural, and the Residency 

You are treated not by a Me, but WE 

Benefits to care, you don’t even see

 
Routine care lives up to it’s glory

Finding ways to be a part of each patient’s story 

We do all we can to bring stigma down

Auto ICs ensure we’re always around

We screen, we assess, and we intervene,

Making whole person care, our routine

 
From GATHER to GATHERS, Systems is more than a theory

The “S” is needed to understand patient context clearly 

Kids are not just little adults 

Family context is vital in each consult

Developmental knowledge is a must

Fostering child strength with those who they trust

School, Legal, Community, kids are more than self

Peds PCBH, we are a system of health 

For prevention, you can do no better 

Peds Integrated Care is the gold standard setter

 
Integrated care

We listen, when you share

Love, work, play

Help same day

Our team works together, we’re everywhere,

PCBH—now that’s primary care!