Should You Leave Your Child Alone With A Doctor? | Dr. Scott Hadland

August 12, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

In 2022, the equivalent of a high school classroom of teenagers died every week across the United States from drug overdoses. Dr. Scott Hadland, Chief of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at Mass General for Children, has watched patients die. He also remembers, seventeen years later, the family who asked him not to examine their baby because they had learned he was gay. In this conversation with Doctor Mike, Hadland explains why the most controversial tool in adolescent medicine—confidential time between doctor and teen—is also the most essential, and how parents can talk to their kids about substances without losing their trust.

Why Confidential Time With a Doctor Is the Standard of Care

Some parents resist when a pediatrician asks them to leave the exam room. Hadland is direct: "The best care is delivered when the doctor asks the parent to step out and the parent obliges." This is not a preference; it is the evidence-based standard of care. Clinical trials have randomized young people to different clinical scenarios, and the results are clear—when confidentiality is assured and a parent is not in the room, teens share more information and are more likely to return for follow-up care.

Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.

Read Full Summary →

Free • No credit card required

Listen to Audio Summary Open in App

Never miss an episode of The Checkup with Doctor Mike

Get every new episode summarized in your inbox — free, ~5 minutes to read.

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

What you'll learn

1 (01:42) **Why Doctors Ask Parents to Leave the Room** - Dr. Scott Hadland defends confidential time with teens as the gold standard of care and explains the evidence behind it.
2 (03:42) **The HPV Vaccine Conversation: Listening Before Lecturing** - Hadland and Doctor Mike compare their approaches to vaccine hesitancy, emphasizing curiosity over prescription.
3 (08:53) **Slow Rolling Care: Why One Visit Won’t Fix Everything** - Both doctors caution against the “hyper-optimization” mentality in clinical visits, especially with teens.
4 (10:56) **The Teen’s Perspective: Is Rapport Just Manipulation?** - Doctor Mike challenges whether a teen would see the “get them to come back” strategy as insincere.
5 (13:48) **When the Teen Won’t Talk at All** - Hadland describes his strategy for the hardest cases: evasive or apathetic patients.
6 (16:10) **Which Substance Is Hardest to Treat?** - Hadland ranks the difficulty of treating different addictions in his adolescent practice.
7 (21:34) **Harm Reduction and the Nicotine Debate** - The doctors discuss whether nicotine pouches and flavored e-cigarettes are tools or traps.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

I'll teach you how to become the media's go-to expert in your field. Enroll in The Professional's Media Academy now: https://www.professionalsmediaacademy.com/

Huge thanks to Dr. Scott Hadland for joining me. You can follow him here:

https://www.instagram.com/drscotthadland/?hl=en

https://www.linkedin.com/in/scotthadland/

00:00 Intro

2:00 HPV Vaccine

8:06Treating Addicted Teens

17:56 Nicotine Addiction

25:15 DARE

41:06 Social Contagion of Anxiety

55:15 Advice For Parents

1:06:44 Leaving Kids Alone With Doctors

1:20:56 Being A Gay Dad/Doctor

1:34:45 Social Media Drama

1:42:00 AI Inequity

1:49:45 The Future

Help us continue the fight against medical misinformation and change the world through charity by becoming a Doctor Mike Resident on Patreon where every month I donate 100% of the proceeds to the charity, organization, or cause of your choice! Residents get access to bonus content, and many other perks for just $10 a month. Become a Resident today: https://www.patreon.com/doctormike

Let’s connect:

IG: https://go.doctormikemedia.com/instagram/DMinstagram

Twitter: https://go.doctormikemedia.com/twitter/DMTwitter

FB: https://go.doctormikemedia.com/facebook/DMFacebook

TikTok: https://go.doctormikemedia.com/tiktok/DMTikTok

Reddit: https://go.doctormikemedia.com/reddit/DMReddit

Contact Email: [email protected]

Executive Producer: Doctor Mike

Production Director and Editor: Dan Owens

Managing Editor and Producer: Sam Bowers

Editor and Designer: Caroline Weigum

Editor: Juan Carlos Zuniga

* Select photos/videos provided by Getty Images *

** The information in this video is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images, and information, contained in this video is for general information purposes only and does not replace a consultation with your own doctor/health professional **