Medical School for Everyone: Pediatrics Grand Rounds

Description

Kids, for all their youth and vigor, aren’t indestructible. They’re always growing, which makes their health needs different from those of the average adult. Enter pediatricians: trained medical experts whose sole mission is to help children reach their maximum potential.

Pediatrics, which focuses on the medical care of children from birth through adolescence, is one of the most fascinating specialized areas of modern medicine. Treating kids for everything from mild fevers to severe developmental disorders offers doctors an unrivaled set of challenges. For one thing, children often have a harder time communicating how—and what—they’re feeling. Furthermore, they’re constantly learning and exploring, which makes them especially prone to illness and injury. And the older they get, the more diagnostic complexities arise.

As painful as it can be to see suffering kids, to step into the shoes of a trained pediatrician is to better understand how these medical heroes diagnose common and uncommon illnesses in their young patients. The world of pediatrics makes for an exciting adventure in contemporary medicine, whether you’re

• a parent or caretaker who wants to know when (and when not) to worry;
• a practicing pediatrician looking for professional tips and strategies to use on the job;
• a medical student considering pediatrics as a potential field of study; or
• a casual learner hungry for the same medical problem-solving popularized in television and film.

Filled with the same high level of intrigue and insight that he’s brought to his other courses in the Medical School for Everyone series, Dr. Roy Benaroch invites you to follow him on more grand rounds cases—this time inside a typical pediatrics office. In Medical School for Everyone: Pediatrics Grand Rounds, you’ll don the doctor’s white coat for an accessible 24-lecture journey into the world of pediatric medicine. A general pediatrician and professor at Emory University’s School of Medicine, Dr. Benaroch introduces you to young patients who’ll sometimes test the limits of your knowledge—and challenge a pediatrician’s diagnostic skills—as you uncover clues to figure out appropriate diagnoses. And all the while, you’ll gain fresh knowledge about the world of pediatrics, including how pediatricians perform general examinations, how they cope with difficult patients (and their parents), and how they address some of the unique medical issues that only children face. You’ll also get a glimpse into how the field has evolved over the last century, and where it may be headed in the future.

Learn How Pediatricians Treat Kids

Good pediatric care, according to Dr. Benaroch, isn’t just about treating illness. It’s about making sure children have every opportunity to make the most of their lives as they become adults.

Throughout Pediatrics Grand Rounds, you’ll quickly see just how multifaceted and nuanced the medical treatment of children is, whether dealing with minor diagnoses like runny noses and ear infections or life-changing ones like cerebral palsy and neonatal pneumonia. Each of these stand-alone lectures presents you with a single case or series of related cases that you tackle alongside Dr. Benaroch, from initial symptoms and workup to the diagnosis and resulting treatment.

Here are just a few of the young patients you’ll encounter during your “office hours”:

• Jenna, a 14-year-old girl whose complaints of stomach pain and resultant weight loss lead you on an in-depth exploration of different types of abdominal pain and their sources.
• Vinny, a nine-year-old boy who comes to you with a small fever and cough… and then comes back with more complicated symptoms.
• Ezra, a young boy whose symptoms expose you to a rare (but well-known) complication of ear infections.
• Mabel, a three-year old with one-sided nasal discharge whose treatment requires some out-of-the-box thinking.
• Chaz, a 16-year-old young man whose chief complaint of headaches sparks an examination of complications from underlying health concerns.

A Panic-Free Resource for a Child’s Health and Wellness

Whether you decide to experience these lectures in sequence or watch them in the order of your greatest areas of interest, Pediatrics Grand Rounds is packed with information about children’s health. But sometimes children (whether babies, infants, or teenagers) have concerns that extend beyond the traditional realm of medicine.

Dr. Benaroch has crafted the perfect tool for parents and caretakers who want a panic-free resource for thinking about all the major aspects of their child’s health and wellness.

• Sleep: A good night’s rest is one of the most important things children of any age need. But sometimes, children have trouble sleeping—which can eventually spiral into a whole host of medical issues. You’ll get sound advice on everything from “resetting” a child’s body clock to cultivating healthy associations with sleep in fussy children.
• Discipline: How do you deal with compulsive lying and temper tantrums? According to Dr. Benaroch, disciplining your child when necessary isn’t about punishment. It’s about teaching. “Punishment is one tool,” he says. “But it’s often not the best tool. And punishment used too often just won’t work. Effective discipline takes multiple tools, time, patience, and love.”
• Mental health: The psychological and emotional well-being of a child is paramount to their future success in adulthood. And while the assistance of a child psychologist is sometimes necessary, the best behavioral and psychiatric care starts with the physicians who’ve grown to know a child best. A pediatrician’s knowledge of a family as a child ages gives him or her important insights into potential root causes—and can also be a source of strength for the child’s family.

Solve the Big Mysteries inside Little Patients

Resoundingly popular with lifelong learners, the Medical School for Everyone series is a powerful stage on which Dr. Benaroch exhibits his remarkable educational skills and his depth of medical knowledge. But what elevates this particular course from its companions is Dr. Benaroch’s career as a practicing pediatrician.

Whether he’s dealing with a premature infant, a case of international adoption, or a homeless youth, Dr. Benaroch treats every case in this course with care and compassion. You’ll quickly learn how the best pediatricians are caretakers and counselors, and are always there for the children they love to help. The experience of helping sick children is exciting and rewarding—especially when it transforms lives for the better.

“They’re little kids, sure,” Dr. Benaroch says of the patients in this course. “But there are some big mysteries to solve.”

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