good teaching topics

[Perrotfish]

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We are having a painfully slow ward month right now, and I am trying to develop more chalkboard talks to fill the endless hours. What do you guy think are good core pediatric topics to teach to the medical students? I have a core of half a dozen lectures (croup/bronchiolitis, hyperbili, failure to thrive, management of asthma, fluid management, and nausea/vomiting) that usually gets me through our students' two week blocks, but at this rate I'm going to have gone through all six and the end of their second day.

 

[michigangirl]

Diabetic ketoacidosis
Anemia- differential and workup

 

[mvenus929]

Diarrhea (infectious causes, which to treat, etc)
Rashes
Fever in infants

 

[Rutgers06]

Hematuria (differential and work-up)
Nephrotic syndrome
IBD

 

[BigRedBeta]

SIRS/Sepsis
Early recognition of shock/early management
Seizures

 

[Siverhideo1985]

I really appreciated well organized talks on acid base and kidney issues - too often these were discussed but in such disorganized manner that I just got more confused than educated.

 

[Stitch]

Asthma. I feel like we teach how to treat it, but not the physiology of the disease and how treatment affects that physiology.

 

[physicsnerd42]

I once had a resident run through differentials for abdominal pain/symptoms in different ages (you're going to think differently about it in a 2 yo vs a 16 yo). I thought that was great and it was helpful when the students were asked to come up with differentials in each age group.

Antibiotics are still pretty confusing to me, so any chance I can get to go over those is very helpful.

Management of electrolyte disturbances is helpful: SIADH, DI, what do you do when you see a kid with a K of 8, etc.?

I'm in the PICU now, and had some great run-throughs of the different agents we use as pressors, ionotropes, etc, and what dose regimes we get different effects: ex. dose range of epi being primarily beta vs. when alpha comes in. When would you use dopamine vs. epi vs. dobutamine vs. milrinone vs. phenylephrine, etc.

Also, I had a great run through of airway issues with an attending: What different types of retractions correspond to. Why you see different responses to airway issues in different ages: ex. nasal flaring in little kids because the relative increase in the cross-sectional area of their nares from flaring can buy a lot less resistance to flow. Why you see head-bobbing. Stridor vs. stertor. If you really want to, go into laminar vs. turbulent flow and Reynold's number. What are indications for intubation?

 

[oldbearprofessor]

Infant nutrition - especially the rational choice of infant formulas. Do most infants really need soy, lactose-free, partially hydrolyzed, thickened or brand-name formulas? What are the pros and cons of these choices? When should solids be started? Which ones? Does it matter? Which vitamins and when?

Preferably, this talk is given without a formula company sponsored lunch🙄

 

[umass rower]

I always enjoyed giving a talk on the infant abdominal surgical emergencies (Hirschsprung's, intestinal atresias, volvulus, etc.). Not so much a chalkboard talk, but if you can use a computer it lends itself well to having lots of pictures to look at.

 

[J-Rad]

Murmurs.

 

[Member 111111]

Growth charts:
Falling off growth %: hypothyroid vs growth hormone deficiency vs cushings and how to differentiate

Constitutional delay of growth vs short stature ( familial)

When to be worried and refer


I guess when you are here, you can talk about normal stages of puberty, what signs are first, what is normal and when to be worried if someone is too early or too late.

 

[Perrotfish]

All great ideas, thanks

 

[DrMed2009]

Physical examination... Infant vs. Older kid.. Tips and tricks (ears, throat etc) asthma, bronchiolitis, hyperbilirubinemia, how to calculate fluids and what type of fluids... How to write prescriptions and basic orders are my favorite topics
I will be on the ward in July with brand new interns and med students... During July our interns rotate each week through the main places like clinic, ward. Night and nursery... So I think I will also cover some of the basic stuff.. Like milestones, nutrition, social issues what's important in the history and physical depending on h&p