Steven C. Matson, M.D., has always been interested in taking care of adolescents, especially those who fall through the cracks.
There’s a real need for specialized care for adolescents, said the new director of UF’s adolescent clinic and chief and associate professor of adolescent medicine in the pediatrics department in the College of Medicine-Jacksonville.
“There’s a lot of normal healthcare to be done just for adolescents – I call them ‘kids’ – and we’re used to seeing basic sick kids, kids with reproductive health and contraception questions and kids who are just bummed out,” he said. “And it’s always satisfying when you see a kid who’s really scared about health issues and use it for an opportunity to educate them and get them to be a little more careful.”
But Matson’s favorite part of working with the 12-to-21 age group reflects the different role adolescent medicine physicians play – from the kids’ point of view.
“Something clicks in the patient-physician relationship when the kids realize that a professional is working and talking with them rather than with their parents,” he said. “They’re kind of ready to not have their parents there in the doctor’s office, telling them to sit up straight.”
Board certified in pediatrics and adolescent medicine, Matson attended Mayo Medical School in Rochester, Minn., and completed a pediatrics residency at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and two fellowships – one in adolescent medicine at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and a second in primary care faculty development at Michigan State University. He came to UF after serving two years as associate professor of pediatrics and adolescent medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.