Anyone work in Pediatrics?

[bnwj89]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I have a potential opportunity to work in a peds clinic. However, I have zero experience in this setting (have worked in ortho, acute, and geriatric in the past).

Can anyone who works in this setting describe what kind of diagnoses, treatments, etc that they do?

 

[wiseOldPT]

Torticollis, developmental delays, genetic conditions, developmental coordination disorder, autism, cerebral palsy, down syndrome, amputations/congenital limb differences, arthrogryposis, SMA, spina bifida, muscular dystrophies, juvenille arthritis, and 100s more! A big thing about peds is being ready for a huge range from non-verbal teenagers working on head control to kids with arthritis who can become independent with stretching/strengthening programs. Education of family is a big component. Lots of creativity- can't just give an exercise usually, has to be incorporated into play.

The switch to peds can be hard. Make sure you would have strong mentorship in the clinic and see if they'd cover continuing ed courses.

 

[ya1]

I did not work there but observed:
1. Sub-acute setting for long-term stay: Children 0-21 y.o. w/ brain injuries (after drowning, MVA, birth trauma, CP, CVA). 80% of them were bed-ridden, on ventilators. They keep physically growing but will never get out of that state since their family chose them to stay on life support. So for the most part, you just do ROM, positioning which does not require that much skills really. The other 20% were able to get out of bed, you walk with them, do exercises. maybe 5% of those were improving despite of their developmental delay, getting to the point of getting off ventilator, went to school. You could do more with those patients, promote their development as much as possible. For those 20%, you also could figure out what treatments to do without any extra pediatric courses (I am not saying ped courses would not be beneficial).
2. Outpatient for autistic children.