Adolescents and young adults face unique challenges that can greatly impact their mental and physical health. Specialists within the Duke Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine Program collaborate with primary care providers and pediatricians to address these challenges, offering developmentally focused care to patients aged 12 to 25 to manage a variety of health concerns, including those related to sexual and reproductive health, disordered eating, substance use, chronic illness, and more.

This Q&A provides an in-depth look at the Duke Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine Program’s services.

A consultation with an adolescent health specialist is beneficial for adolescents and young adults needing:

• Reproductive healthcare to manage menstrual disorders, contraceptives, or high-risk sexual behaviors
• Treatment for mental health concerns like depression, anxiety, or ADHD
• Support for behavioral health concerns, including sleep issues, school issues, and early substance experimentation and misuse
• Medical oversight for eating disorders 
• Support for healthy gender and sexual identity development (the program does not prescribe hormones but does provide a safe space for youth and families to explore perceptions of self and to affirm value)
   

Clinicians have more time for patient visits, and time is one of the most valuable resources when working with this age group. If a patient has challenges that require dedicated time and effort to be treated, the team can dive deep into the health issue and follow up more frequently. Sometimes, the team’s work is consultative, where patients then return to their PCP to continue with routine care. In other cases, it’s important to comanage a patient’s care, which allows the PCP to focus on aspects of preventive or acute care while the Duke team consults on more specific issues related to adolescent and young adult concerns.

The program provides care focused on the developmental and contextual factors unique to adolescence and young adulthood while leveraging Duke’s vast network for referrals to endocrinology,gynecology, psychiatry, or other specialists when needed.

New patients referred to the program can generally be seen within one week. When clinically appropriate, the team offers virtual appointments for return visits.