Pediatric and Young Adult Medicine

08/09/2025

Positively popular Dr. Plotnik has Saturday clinic so call after 8:30am to be seen from 9am till 12 noon.
Hand foot mouth disease (HFMD) is a viral stomach flu that has canker sores and rash on hand and feet then arms and legs but initially looks and acts like Strep throat.
Covid and Allergies especially with smoke from Canada still causing coughs and sinus infections.
Lots of swimmer’s ear from pool , or worse, lake/ river water left in ears leads to pain and tenderness and poor sleep and dullness to sounds.
And we are getting more cases of infectious mono which looks like strep and can lead to tonsillitis and dangerously enlarged spleens.
Save your time and money and lessen you exposures to ‘new and exciting’ illnesses and see the Pediatric Experts at PYAM instead!
Stay cool and hydrated!

08/01/2025

Magical Meredith Doran ARNP has clinic this Saturday in St Paul from 9am till 12noon. Call today or after 8:30 am tomorrow to be seen. Call 651-227-7806.

Hand foot and mouth disease out there causing sore throats and fevers then rashes and canker sores. Strep and Covid causing problems as well. And fall w**d allergies picking up early leading to sinus infections - all made worse by smoke from Canadian fires.

Sun burn and heat exhaustion still problematic so remind your kids to re-apply sunscreen and stay well hydrated!

Needing a sport or camp physical you can still call as we still have openings especially with our newest providers BUT don’t wait too long! We even have a couple openings on Saturday as well.

07/25/2025

Dr. Siefferman will have Saturday clinic in St. Paul and you can call starting after 12 noon on Friday to be seen either for illvisits and injuries or for a limited number of slots for school age exams and sports physicals.

Strep and Covid still causing issues and younger ages dealing with Hand Foot and Mouth disease and they all look alike and need different treatments and have different risks.

Sun burns, bug bites, allergies and sinus infections all causing issues this summer as well as tick bites and other insect bites leading to severe skin infections - don’t delay please get seen Friday or Saturday.

Eagan office is closed this Friday and St Paul is closed on Monday hopefully for the last time as our newest providers - Nadiifa Karie ARNP and Tiffany Maher ARNP are
clearing their final hurdles for hospital rounds.

All of PYAM appreciate your patience with us during these transitional days again but we are fully staffed and ready to finish the summer taking care of same day illnesses as well as your kids school and sports and camp exams as well.

07/19/2025

You can call Saturday after 8:30am to be seen by Dr. Plotnik at 651-227-7806 from 9am to 12 noon.
Lots of Covid-19 causing fatigue and sore throats and cough. Strep still leading to headaches and stomachaches and sore throats. Hand foot mouth disease ruining summer days with burning sore throats and fevers.
Allergies still causing issues and leading to ear and sinus infections.
Pain in ear canals after swimming needs to be seen as well.

07/14/2025

For our families with college kids we heard that Delta Airlines is dropping the following direct flights from Minneapolis St Paul Airport (MSP)

Great Falls, MT (GTF) – service ends Sept. 7
Fairbanks, AK (FAI) – service ends Sept. 7
Buffalo, NY (BUF) – service ends Sept. 7
Albuquerque, NM (ABQ) – service ends Nov. 5

While these direct flights will cease, each destination still has alternative flight options via other airlines

They are adding one east coast NY city

Westchester County, NY (HPN) – service begins September 8, 2025, offering a new gateway to the New York City suburbs, supplementing existing flights to JFK, LGA, and Newark .

Good luck!

07/11/2025

Positively pleasant Dr. Plotnik has Saturday morning clinic in St. Paul - call today or after 8:30am Saturday to get seen between 9 am and 12 noon.

We are getting a surge in the latest variant of Covid-19 with its severe sore throat that patients describe as they are swallowing broken glass. Sadly, the strep is similar and a fair number of our Covid-19 patients return with Strep throat or a sinus infection!

Lot of younger patients are coming in with Coxsackie caused Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease (HFMD) with high fevers mild URI (cough, runny nose) and then they feel better for a day, then arrives the appearance of canker sores in mouth (and refusing to eat) and then sores down arms and legs. Many are coming in with secondary ear infections so please come in if similar symptoms.

A lot of skin infections! Please clean all scrapes and bumps with at least soap and water, then air dry and apply Aquaphor and watch for redness and tenderness - don’t delay as we are treating lots of cases of cellulitis that are borderline ‘flesh eating bacteria’ and bad cases of Staph infections and ‘blood poisoning’ - red lines of Lymphangitis where infection has overwhelmed your immune system and the infection is spreading inward.

Bad scrapes from bike accidents and getting dirt into wounds might be better cleaned with Providone-iodine solution you can pick up at pharmacies - they clean without scarring and leave a protective layer of iodine in the wound and once dried you can again cover with Aquaphor (Walmart and Target have their own versions too) to keep debris out. Always feel free to bring your child in to PYAM for assessment and management. But watch the urgent cares as we are getting a fair number of patients who were seen in an Urgent care setting for an injury only to come down with some infection from the waiting room!

07/03/2025

Pediatric and Young Adult Medicine (PYAM) is open as usual for Thursday July the 3rd and you can schedule online by going to our website www.pyam.com or by calling 651-227-7806 starting after 7:45am.
PYAM will be closed Friday the 4th AND we will be closed on Saturday the 5th.

ERs and Urgent Cares have been running multiple hours behind all week, so if your child is any bit sick - then best to be seen Thursday lest you will have to wait till Monday.

Most Pharmacies will be closed as well this weekend so if you need refills don’t wait.

If a PYAM provider completes your child’s exam, then PYAM will complete any paperwork needs for up to 12 months after exam date.

Providers at PYAM can NOT call in refills if your child has not been seen in the last 12 months, nor can we fill out camp nor sports forms if we did not complete the Physical Exam at PYAM.

If you go to any other provider- they will have to complete your forms per state medical practices. If the outside provider was to refuse ( which they often do unless presented at exam date) then you would have to obtain a non-covered exam by either yet another provider or PYAM.

At Pediatric & Young Adult Medicine, our team of board-certified physicians provide the highest quality care for infants, children, and young adults. Call us!

06/28/2025

Very merry Meredith Doran ARNP has Saturday clinic at PYAM. Please call 651-227-7806 after 8:30 in the morning on Saturday to be seen anywhere from 9 AM to 12 noon.

We continue to have lots of strep throat. We still unfortunately have the newest strain of COVID-19, which is causing a terrible sore throat, but also fatigue and fevers. We have a stomach flu, which also will have sore throat and somewhat of a cough but not much vomiting, thankfully, but abdominal pain and diarrhea. We continue to have lots of issues with our allergies. Mainly from grass as pollen from trees is finally slowing down, but we have resurgence of w**d pollen, including even ragw**d. Truly a month early.

We still have lots of reports of dog ticks, which thankfully don’t carry many diseases here in Minnesota, but they still need to be watched to removed and check the skin for infections, but also are hated black legged deer tech still causing Lyme’s disease as well as other illnesses.

We usually have at least three openings for well exams for elementary or older children as well as for teens and college students and we can do medication checks as well during Saturday Clinic. Please stay cool this weekend as it will be getting back up into the 90° range with high levels of humidity.

06/20/2025

Smiling Maggie Smith ARNP has the duty this Saturday at St. Paul PYAM Clinic - call today or Saturday after 8:30am to get seen between 9am and 12 noon at 651-227-7806.

Still lots of Strep throat, and a resurgence in the newest variant of Covid-19! Current Covid-19 is often presenting with a more severe throat that feels like you are swallowing broken glass. Only way to tell them apart is to come in and get seen.

This weekend, we will experience temperatures in the 90’s and high humidity. Minnesotans have not acclimatized to this level of heat so all of us will lose an excessive amount of salts in our perspiration- still important to have shade and cooling clothes for outdoor activities BUT ALSO rehydration drinks with salts as well - but you usually only need 8 oz every 8 hours and you need to drink enough water to keep your urine water white!

Best to avoid the peak sun and humidity by doing indoor chores! 😊

06/13/2025

Dr Siefferman has Saturday Clinic in St. Paul - please call 651-227-7806 today or Saturday after 8:30am to be seen.

We are seeing up to 3 to 4 elementary and older kids for Camp and Sports and yearly physicals as well as medication checks as we know these kids and parents have chaotic lives and time is short!

We still have every allergy in the planet out there. Along with the smoke from those uncontrolled fires in Canada, it is adding to a lot of congestion and sinus infections and asthma attacks - all these insults are forecasted to continue till winter. So if your child’s cough is driving everyone in the family crazy- come in and get seen today or Saturday!

Minor trauma or questions about fractures- we still can x-ray in St Paul. We don’t c-ray elbows nor shoulders nor spinal injuries. But PYAM providers can get orders to go to Children’s or RayUS for definitive x-rays PLUS we have a great relationship with Twin Cities Orthopedics and can make a seamless referral to TCO where they can see your child’s whole chart. We also can refer to other Orthopedic groups as well. Save yourself a long wait in Urgent Care and come in to PYAM for rapid and Child friendly assessments today - and Saturday from 9am till 12 noon.

06/13/2025

As I have been telling parents and children for years - humans are social creatures and creatures of light and if we don’t get BOTH we don’t do well. There is a recent Medscape article that once more validated my statement.

A COVID-era survey of nearly 5000 preteens reveals family meals and quality time with family and friends improve sleep, while tech overuse and conflict lead to short sleep.

05/29/2025

The Pleasantly positive Dr. Plotnik will have Saturday clinic ( she is working in Maplewood this Friday) so you can call tomorrow after noon Friday or after 8:30 AM on Saturday to see her.

Still cases of Covid and Strep. More issues with allergies and secondary sinus infections and asthma exacerbations from Tree and grass and even W**d pollens.

Well exams are picking up and we are still in the process of ‘on-boarding ‘ Tiffany Maher ARNP and Afiifa Karie ARNP, our two newest practitioners, so you will likely meet them in the coming weeks, so you will have more options to be seen soon.