Katy Miller, MD, FAAP

About

  • Pronouns: she/they

  • Occupation and Specialty: Pediatrician - Adolescent Medicine and Gender Health

  • Location (Clinic/hospital): Children's Minnesota

  • Location (City): Minneapolis and telehealth for state of Minnesota

  • Offers Telehealth: Yes

  • Contact Information: https://www.childrensmn.org/services/primary-care/primary-care-services/adolescent-health-clinic/

  • Bio: Katy Miller (she/they) is a pediatrician and specialist in Adolescent Medicine. She completed medical school at the University of Iowa, residency in pediatrics at the University fo Wisconsin - Madison, and fellowship in adolescent medicine at the University of Minnesota. She cares for adolescents between the ages of 12-24, and is board certified in both pediatrics and adolescent medicine. They also provide gender affirming care through the gender health program at Children's Minnesota.

Approach to care

  • What does it look like for you to provide care to patients in larger bodies? How is, or isn’t, your approach different from how you care for patients in smaller bodies? If you work with children, how is or isn’t your approach different when working with children?

    I am honored to care for patients in larger bodies, as I know many of my patients have experienced discrimination an outright hostility from the medical field. I do not promote intentional weight loss. I typically do not discuss weight with patients until they bring it up as a concern, or if there is a concerning trend (such as rapid weight loss, weight loss in a child, or change in where a pediatric patient has been tracking on their growth curve). I do follow guidelines for screening for certain health conditions based on BMI, which are based on guidelines from my professional organizations.

  • What is your perspective on how weight is or is not related to health?

    There are so many other indicators of health that are more accurate and helpful -

  • Finish this sentence: “Fat people are…” 

    Awesome

  • How do you, your clinic, and the healthcare system you work in use BMI (i.e BMI cutoffs for accessing certain services, BMI on charts and printouts, etc)? Is this flexible?

    There are no cutoffs for using BMI to access services in our clinic. BMI does print in patient handouts; we can remove this at patient request and I do this for anyone with a known history of disordered eating.

  • If a patient declines to be weighed, how do you and/or your staff proceed?

    No problem. If there is a reason we really need weight for any particular purpose (more common in pediatrics than young adults) I would talk that through with the patient and parents and we would come to a decision about next steps together.

  • If a patient declines to discuss weight loss, nutrition, and/or exercise, how do you proceed?

    No problem. I want to make a clinic visit as least traumatizing as possible.

  • What does the physical accessibility of your office space look like? What kinds of accommodations are present for people in larger bodies? Are there things you wish were in place that are currently not? 

    We do not have enough seating for people in larger bodies in all of the exam rooms (if multiple parents are present, etc).

  • What do you do to allow fat people to feel comfortable and welcome in your office? 

    We have educated our staff to be as sensitive as possible regarding vital signs and instructed them to avoid weight talk. We have inclusive signage. We try to make our clinic environment as warm and friendly as possible!

  • If you’d like to use this space to talk about any identities (gender, race, size, sexuality, etc.) you hold and how this relates to your care, please do so. 

    I am a queer and non-binary physician who has always lived in a larger body; I approach care for my patients the same way I would for my friends and family.