of today's technology and the
parental options into five spheres:
nutrition, screen time, disposable
income, family responsibility, and,
finally, a balance of extracurricular
activities, academics, and unstructured
play.
osphere, "morphing old-world skills
into a new-world career," he says. His
homegrown blog, "DocSmo.com,"
started as an experiment in "Studio
1E"--his son's old bedroom. Draw-
ing on the diverse expertise of his
family, Dr. Smolen developed a high-
ly successful series of podcasts in
wide variety of subjects with a global
audience. He has researched, written,
and recorded 350 "portable, practi-
cal, pediatric `pedcasts.'" By the
spring of 2015, DocSmo.com was log-
ging 40,000 visitors a month (many
returning regularly), with an average
viewing time of six minutes per visit.
questions, including "Straight Talk
about Sleep in Infancy," "The Potty
Refuser," and "The Tired Teen."
"Every morning I get up and add new
topics," he says. "The list is endless."
Dr. Smolen, who also serves as an
adjunct associate professor of pedi-
atrics at the University of North
casts give me the opportunity to teach
both parents about a lot of things that
there just isn't time for during a rou-
tine office visit. Extending the con-
versation beyond the office was my
original concept, and it worked!"
School) was an excellent choice for
him, says Dr. Smolen. He originally
planned to practice family medicine.
Then, during his clinical rotations, he
worked with Paul Winokur, MD, a
Counsels Thousands of Parents