Stumbled into pedes

[ForbiddenComma]

So, here's my situation. I'm really into cardiology, to the point where I didn't care whether I did adult or pedes cards (as I admitted in my interviews). Both are equally fascinating to me, even though they have vastly different disease processes. But I figured IM cards was the more well-worn path, so I stocked up my MS4 year with plenty of IM and IM cards, including a medicine sub-i.

So, my #1 match pick didn't work out, and I knew going in that #2 was a no-go because I totally bombed that interview... so I matched #3, which is a pedes program.

Now, I am currently way behind my peers since they all probably did pedes sub-i's and so forth. I haven't had any pedes in my fourth year except maybe my ER rotation. So... what would be the best way to bone up so I'm ready to go by July? My PD said to buy a Nelson's but #1 that's way too much in such a short time and #2 I don't happen to have 160 bucks lying around here.

I'm going to go to town on UpToDate and print off any pedes disease I can think of... what else should I be doing?

BTW, the more I think about it, the happier I am to be doing pedes cards 😀

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[hitemup]

Congratulations on matching in Peds. I would say that up to date might be a bit much. I would try to learn a lot about normal things in babies and children. I think up to date has some articles on there that would be a good start. Up to date has a table of contents you can make and you can make it all peds too, so i would do that as well. I think another cheap way is to get the blueprints peds book and go through that; it has a lot of good basic things an intern should know. Some of the questions books such as pretest can be helpful as well, though some of those questions are a bit detailed. We have family med and ED residents rotate through all the time on the peds service and they don't know much peds either and survive. You will be doing peds all the time so you will learn a ton just from doing it, so I wouldn't worry too much and just read when you start residency. Good luck!

 

[generic]

You will be fine. I think you should spell it "Peds" though.

Another good point is that we have Med-Peds interns who start off with 3 months of medicine and then suddenly switch over to Peds for month #4 and are able to catch on quite well. In fact, eventually I think they're better than we are because of all that cross-training.

So maybe your medicine-heavy med school experience will come in handy when your 16yo F pt with Type II DM and Hyperlipidemia comes in complaining of dysuria and chest pain.

 

[ForbiddenComma]

I think you should spell it "Peds" though.

Ha! Shows what little I know. I just figured it would be spelled "pedes" because of the way it's pronounced.

What I'm most scared of is the NICU, which I'm almost completely ignorant of. The thought of tubing a 30-week premie has me going ... not to mention diagnosing a VSD with only a stethoscope in such a little heart, as I saw peds cards people do all the time.

Anyway, I'll try to bone up on the well-child checkup as a starting point, good call.. thank you guys.

 

[edmadison]

Ha! Shows what little I know. I just figured it would be spelled "pedes" because of the way it's pronounced.

What I'm most scared of is the NICU, which I'm almost completely ignorant of. The thought of tubing a 30-week premie has me going ... not to mention diagnosing a VSD with only a stethoscope in such a little heart, as I saw peds cards people do all the time.

Anyway, I'll try to bone up on the well-child checkup as a starting point, good call.. thank you guys.

My advice to you is to just relax. Everyone expects you to be a ***** when you start internship. Have a good attitude and learn from your mistakes. The NICU will be overwhelming, but you'll have seniors. Don't worry about that intubation. You will always have back-up as an intern. I didn't get competent with intubation until I was a 3rd year. I'm scared too, I'm starting PICU fellowship three months and I haven't intubated anyone in > 3 years. Yikes!

Ed

 

[Sweet Tea]

Ha! Shows what little I know. I just figured it would be spelled "pedes" because of the way it's pronounced.

What I'm most scared of is the NICU, which I'm almost completely ignorant of. The thought of tubing a 30-week premie has me going ... not to mention diagnosing a VSD with only a stethoscope in such a little heart, as I saw peds cards people do all the time.

Anyway, I'll try to bone up on the well-child checkup as a starting point, good call.. thank you guys.

You'll be fine. I did a full year as a surgery intern with exceedingly little peds exposure during that year before jumping ship into the happier world of pediatric medicine. I may have a thicker skin and a higher comfort level when it comes to procedures (even procedures that I'm unfamiliar with) than my residency classmates, but I had had no general peds experience for well over a year when I started my peds internship.

Fortunately, the intubations and VSD diagnoses are usually not dependent on the intern. 😉 You will be expected to look at a 30 weeker and think "Hmm...you could benefit from an ET tube" or listen to a newborn's heart and think "This doesn't sound right", and then you're expected to call for help. You'll have back-up for those intubations! The NICU can be an overwhelming experience even for residents who want to do neo. So take your time and relax.

Boning up on normal kid stuff would be a good idea. You'll be fine.

 

[twilightdoc]

..Now, I am currently way behind my peers since they all probably did pedes sub-i's and so forth. I haven't had any pedes in my fourth year except maybe my ER rotation. So... what would be the best way to bone up so I'm ready to go by July? My PD said to buy a Nelson's but #1 that's way too much in such a short time and #2 I don't happen to have 160 bucks lying around here. I'm going to go to town on UpToDate and print off any pedes disease I can think of... what else should I be doing?
BTW, the more I think about it, the happier I am to be doing pedes cards 😀

I wouldn't worry about being behind your peers, particularly about not doing a Peds Sub-I. My opinion about sub-I experiences is that you learn more about yourself than you do about the subject matter that happens to roll in while you are on call. If you wanted to read something before your internship begins to feel like you weren't too far removed from your peds experiences, you might want to invest in one of the Peds review/outline books, and there are several good ones. Read through it casually and don't try to memorize every fact in there. You might be able to pick up a used copy of a recent edition at an inexpensive price at one of the online book stores. And remember that nobody expects you to know everything when you finish, let alone when you start. Take good care of your patients and try to learn as much as you can in "real time".