First Exposure: Pediatrics

With a detailed overview of the most clinically relevant material today, this book provides a solid foundation for healthcare professionals working in the field of pediatrics. It offers crucial techniques, ways to pass written exams, and answer challenging questions in clinical settings.

Each chapter begins with a list of learning objectives. An introduction is presented to general pediatrics and discusses pediatric history and physical examination. Topics go over growth, development, and immunizations. In addition, areas in health supervision, behavior, growth and development are reviewed.

A chief complaints section includes common acute illnesses commonly seen in both the inpatient and outpatient setting. Each chief complaint contains a “Don’t Miss Diagnoses” table. Topics in this guide also include specific diseases seen in major pediatric subspecialties. It presents disease pathophysiology, history, physical examination, laboratory and radiographic evaluation, as well as diagnosis and management.

Objectives listed include :
• steps that explain the importance of monitoring growth in a child
• the importance of communication skill in interaction with pediatric patents
• how to perform a pediatric physical examination and interpret both normal and abnormal findings
• details on specific screening tests that are obtained during a health supervision visit
• several physical and behavioral signs of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse and neglect

A chapter describes how to identify the common problems of adolescence, including menstrual disorders, eating disorders, depression, substance abuse and sports injuries. It also goes over puberty and ways to develop an adolescent health maintenance plan.

Approaches evaluate a child with a suspected genetic disorder. This section reveals how to recognize common chromosomal disorders and shows ways to identify minor and major abnormalities that may be present at birth.

Based on the Council on Medical Student Education in Pediatrics (COMSEP) curriculum, First Exposure: Pediatrics emphasizes comprehension of key concepts rather than the memorization of facts. This valuable resource focuses directly on major issues and symptoms required to master the core competencies in pediatrics. It provides an unmatched orientation to pediatrics, offering an up-close, insider’s perspective on the clinical material of the specialty.