Bringing Joy & Gratitude to Pediatric Neurosurgery

Fit As A Fiddle

One of the darkest things in the world is when infants and children are in the hospital for life-threatening situations. The people that help these kids are the real superheroes in the world. This Thanksgiving day, we are blessed to have one of these superheroes on the show!

Tony "Dancing Doc" Adkins, PA-C, MPH, MCHS, is a pediatric neurosurgery physician assistant at Children’s Hospital of Orange County and now a social media phenomenon. Tony talks to us about delivering excellent care to patients by changing your energy and responding to families appropriately. He discusses the importance of being able to check the pulse of a room and package your message to families in a way that makes them feel like your own family. He also touches on burnout for healthcare professionals and suicide prevention.

In a matter of months Tony became well known around the world for his unique way of connecting with his young patients through music and dance. He has appeared on Good Morning America, The Dr. Oz Show, ABC World News Tonight, Australia Morning News, French medical show and on several other national and international news and talk shows. These media outlets have affectionately named him the “Dancing Doc” because of his dance videos with his patients that have gone viral with millions of views.

During his many interviews he often states that he is well aware that there isn't one specific approach that is always the right one for every child. So he uses this method with the intention of lifting his patient's spirits trying to remind them of happiness that can often leave them while in hospitals.

Tony's training focus is in assessing and treating children with closed head injuries, brain tumors, open neural tube defects, hydrocephalus, cerebral palsy, and various other neurosurgical ailments. His educational background includes a Masters in Clinic Health Sciences with a focus on physician assistant studies from University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, a Masters in Public Health in Global Health and Epidemiology from Loma Linda University, and a B.S. in Neuroscience from University of California Riverside.

He is happily married to his lovely wife LaVeta and a father to his two beautiful daughters Chloe and Zoe.