Pediatrician teaches through rap

WakeMed pediatrician Ivy Pointer has had many influences in her career over the years — colleagues, UNC professors and 50 Cent.

The UNC graduate has gained notability over the past year with rap videos she’s created about childhood health issues like asthma and child abuse.

“Ivy’s always been bigger than life,” Pointer’s neighbor Allison Chandler said. “She’s amazingly fast coming up with these witty rap lyrics.”

But Pointer didn’t start making rhymes with big musical dreams — she wrote her first rap last year as a way to lift her colleagues’ spirits.

“We were transitioning to a new electronic medical system, and it was a whole big deal,” Pointer said. “People were kind of nervous about it so I thought it would be fun to have a funny way to boost morale and make people excited about it.”

A year later, Pointer now has over 25 videos under the alter ego of “Young I.V.”

“Initially the joke was my goal is to rap with Jimmy Fallon, which was actually on my blog as my statement of purpose,” she said.

That mission changed when she realized her raps could make a difference.

“As I got into doing it, the feedback I was getting was really positive, and I realized ‘Wow people are actually watching this,” she said. “They have good information, and this is an opportunity to spread awareness about pediatric conditions and also educate parents about how to keep their kids healthy.”

Many people are impressed with the unique way Pointer is spreading information, including sophomore Austin Cotten.

“I think that it’s awesome she’s using a different platform to get the message across,” Cotten said.

Pointer said her videos have also had a positive influence on her work environment, WakeMed’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

“It’s hard to be in a situation where you have to deal with a really sick kid or the death of a kid, so sometimes we do have to resort to humor to sort of disconnect with what’s actually happening when it’s just the staff,” she said.

Pointer said she doesn’t bring up her videos to patients, but some families have discovered her alter ego and wanted to get involved.

“I had several families send me photos of their cancer survivors and that was neat to be able to see ‘Hey, these kids have been through a lot but they made it and they’re doing well,’” she said.

Chandler said “Young I.V.” isn’t just celebrated in WakeMed pediatric unit, but in the Raleigh community as well.

“I’ll be at a play date with people who don’t even know Ivy, but they’ve seen her raps and they’re like ‘Oh my gosh, that woman is your neighbor?’” Chandler said.

Pointer’s local fame hasn’t come without controversy — “Baby Got Vax,” a rap about the importance of children receiving vaccinations, received backlash from those with anti-vaccination views.

Chandler said she believes Pointer has been spreading valuable information with the “Young I.V.” videos, and wants her neighbor to keep writing raps.

“I hope she’ll keep on making them and get on Ellen someday,” Chandler said.

Pointer said she will keep doing her videos as a public platform to educate patients and their families.

“If this is a way to get to the rest of population to know what’s best for their kids, I’m willing to act like a fool.”

arts@dailytarheel.com