Dr. Todd Palker

"I have the best job ever!" I am very often asked if I like being a doctor, or if I would do it again if I could. My response is always the same: absolutely! The opportunity to be so involved with families and to help children grow and thrive from newborn through young adulthood is what makes my job so fulfilling. During medical school at Duke, friends told me I would be bored as a pediatrician, that I would mostly see stuffy noses and diaper rashes. Fortunately I was undeterred, as that suggestion is the furthest thing from the reality. What may seem routine to some is an important priority to others, and it takes a special skill to learn and address the difference. The constant variety in primary care pediatrics always keeps my interest. I enjoy going from one exam room to the next, to find either first-time parents trying to calm a crying infant, or a frightened toddler with an ear infection, or a high school athlete with chronic knee pain. The challenge is to find the best approach for each patient and family, to make them comfortable and for each visit to be successful and positive.

Sports medicine and chronic injuries are of particular clinical interest to me. Although a soccer and lacrosse player throughout my high school and college years, a series of injuries during medical school derailed my amateur career. My past experience and newly-gained clinical competence in pediatric sports medicine provide a valuable asset to our practice, where athletic participation is so prevalent and injuries so common in children of all ages. I also have a special interest in the evaluation and management of children with hearing disorders.

I am an active attending in Pediatrics at Stamford Hospital and since 2014, serve as Chairman of the Pediatric Peer Review Committee. Since joining New England Pediatrics as an associate in 2006, I have been fortunate to work with senior colleagues and excellent mentors, whose expertise has greatly influenced my success in pediatric general practice. I became a Partner January of 2010 and I look forward to many years of growth, collaboration and rewarding patient care.

I reside in Stamford with my lovely wife, daughter, son and our two cats, Max and Vinny.