Physicians at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children request the services of the Department of Child Psychiatry to help care for their patients in every aspect of hospital life, e.g., a child may be overwhelmed and frightened by chemotherapy for their cancer, or a parent may need help for their child with autism and sleep difficulties. Pediatric psychiatrists help children in the Intensive Care Unit after an organ transplant, and they work with neurologists to discern symptoms that may be caused by epilepsy, neurodegenerative disorders, or family stress. Noncompliance is a special issue in pediatrics, and the psychiatrist is asked to address that in the adolescent with diabetes, the youngster who received an organ transplant, and the child on dialysis. At any moment, the Emergency Room may call because a patient attempted suicide.

Outpatient services focus on children and adolescents with acute and chronic medical or surgical problems that are being managed at St. Christopher's. A patient's medical problems may be exacerbated by stress, and so a differential diagnosis is necessary for the youngster with headaches who refuses to attend school, the child with chronic pain who becomes depressed, and the patient with various symptoms who has seen many physicians at several other hospitals. These are just a few of the interesting reasons why pediatric psychiatry is consulted at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children.

Marian P. Callaghan, MD
Clinical Director, Department of Child Psychiatry
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Office: 215-427-5287
Fax: 215-427-5586
Email: Marian.Callaghan@drexel.edu

Medical School: Temple University School of Medicine
Training
Internship: Northwestern University
Residency: Temple University Hospital
Fellowship: Medical College of Pennsylvania
Staff Appointment: 1990
Special Interests: Psychiatric aspects of general hospital pediatrics, the medically ill child, neurologic disorders, medical ethics, the child and research.