As children become adolescents, they begin to assume responsibility for their own health and health care. To encourage this, our goal is to work more closely with our patients during their teen years. We will, therefore, at times ask a parent to leave the exam room so that we can speak confidentially with the teenager. Because it is essential that we have the full trust of our adolescent patients so that they can confide in us if the need arises, we will not divulge any information obtained without the consent of the teen, unless we consider the teen’s health at risk. We always encourage open communication between adolescents and their parents.