Hospital for Children

Divisions/Specialties

Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine

Division Head: Ligia Peralta, M.D., Associate Professor

The Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine clinic operates under the auspices of the University of Maryland, Department of Pediatrics.

The Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine offers continuing comprehensive primary and subspecialty care to young people from adolescence through early adulthood (12-24 years). Division faculty members have expertise in medicine, nursing, psychology, nutrition, statistics, health education, social work and outreach.

Patient Conditions and Subspecialty Services

Annual, Sport, Camp and Work Physicals.
Reproductive care includes:
- Family planning services with regards to pregnancy evaluation, emergency contraception, oral contraceptives, Depo-Provera, sub dermal implants and new contraceptive technologies.
- Gynecological complaints with regards to sexually transmitted infections and abnormal menses.
Management of chronic conditions i.e. asthma, chronic fatigue, headaches, diabetes, chronic anemia etc.
Management of complicated medical problems.
HIV/AIDS counseling and testing, primary and subspecialty care including comprehensive counseling, case management, and weekly support groups.
Evaluation, counseling and case management related to sexual/physical abuse.
Evaluation and counseling for psychosocial issues related to sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy, substance abuse and depression.
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Youth services with regards to comprehensive primary care including management of hormonal therapy, counseling related to gender identity, and health education related to HIV prevention.
Chronic Pelvic Pain Clinic utilizes an interdisciplinary team (including the Division of Gynecology) to evaluate and treat adolescents with chronic, undiagnosed pelvic pain.

General Research Activities

Evaluation of the effectiveness of family planning services and new contraceptive technologies.
Research on access of minority youth to health care services including identifying needs and evaluating strategies to link them to care.
Evaluation and management of chronic fatigue. Programmatic assistance in the development and evaluation of youth clinical prevention programs at community, local and national levels.
Hormonal Ectopy Study (HER) examines what puts young women at risk for sexually transmitted infections and the association of birth control methods with the acquisition of these infections.

HIV/AIDS Research Activities

Adolescent Trial Network. The ATN is a nationwide network of clinic sites for youth with HIV infections created to develop research initiatives for this population and facilitate their participation in such research.
Other HIV Clinical Research. Immunological resilience studies examine the effect and long-term safety of current and new antiretroviral agents and newer drug schedules in order to simplify regimens.
Prevention, Identification and Linkage to Care. Innovations in HIV counseling and testing services including evaluation of rapid testing technologies, identification of preferences for HIV antibody tests among youth, determination of motivators and deterrents and identification of effective ways to link teens to care.
Reproductive Health. Evaluation of pregnancy and reproductive health choices among HIV-infected and at-risk adolescents. This research aims to describe teen pregnancy rates and factors associated with pregnancy and reproductive decision-making among HIV-infected and at-risk adolescents in order to develop clinical risk assessments.

Special Programs

STAR TRACK (Special Teens At-Risk, Together Reaching Access, Care and Knowledge) is an interdisciplinary program to address the complicated needs of adolescents who are infected with HIV.
Project ACCESS is a multi-media social marketing campaign to encourage HIV counseling and testing among high- risk youth.
YUHIP (Youth Urban Health Information Project) is a health education program using the Internet and linking teens to youth-friendly resources in Baltimore.
Youth Involvement. (Community Advisory Board) Clients receiving clinic services are invited to quarterly meetings to provide feedback to the clinic regarding services they receive and additional resources or initiatives, which would improve clinic services.
School Health. Clinic physicians and nurse practitioners from the clinic provide primary health care or consultation in school health centers of selected Baltimore City and County Middle and High Schools.
Interdisciplinary Education. Our interdisciplinary team provides on-site precepting and graduate clinical instruction for: medical students, medial residents, nurse practitioners, undergraduate and graduate nursing students, social work, health education, counseling, psychology and physical therapy students. In addition our team provides prevention, policy, technology skill building, and counseling and testing training.
Professional Leadership. Faculty and staff provide technical assistance and services to providers, professionals, agencies, and organizations on a wide variety of adolescent and young adult issues. Recent topics include positive youth development, youth early identification issues, and HIV rapid testing technologies.
International. Technical assistance for the First National HIV Prevention and Treatment Initiative for the government of the Dominican Republic. Technical assistance and training to Mexico, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Bermuda, Slovenia, Slovakia, Thailand, Tunisia, South Africa and China.

You can contact the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine by calling 410-328-TEEN (8336).

This page was last updated on: August 5, 2009.

For more information about UMHC or to make an appointment, please call
1-800-492-5538 (patients) or 1-800-373-4111 (physicians).