Pediatrics Rotation

Ninad Desai, MD, Chair

The goal of the rotation in pediatrics is to allow students to acquire the basic knowledge of the normal physical, mental, and emotional development of children. Students learn how this development is influenced by medical, social, and educational factors, as well as understand the common disorders and diseases of childhood, especially their diagnosis, management, and prevention. Students will be taught to be aware of the special needs of the newborn, the handicapped child, and the adolescent. An integral part of the rotation is the opportunity to acquire the necessary skills of taking a pediatric history, to examine children of all ages, and to acquire experience in evaluating the essential clinical information so that a coherent plan of management can be formulated and explained to the parents and, as appropriate, to the child. Students learn to appreciate the value of a confident but sympathetic approach to the child and the family while recognizing and accepting the limits of that unit’s expectations and understanding. Student reading is structured during the six weeks so that they first become acquainted with the normal child and then learn history taking and physical examination, reactions of children to illness and hospitalization, the principles of infant feeding, and fluid and drug therapy.