Re-thinking our definition of adolescence

As a respiratory trainee, I was highly influenced by caring for young people with cystic fibrosis. I trained in medicine at the University of Melbourne and then specialised in paediatrics. Previously, a significant proportion of younger people with cystic fibrosis died in early adolescence.

But in the late 1980s, there was a dramatic increase in survival through adolescence. As a young female trainee, these teenage girls ‘pounced’ on me with questions - almost all about their sexual and reproductive health - which led to my wider interest in adolescent health.