Primary Care Perspectives

In light of the recent measles outbreaks, Scott Krugman, MD, MS, FAAP, created a series of social media posts about vaccine-preventable infections. In this episode, he shares pearls from those posts so that we can learn more about these illnesses, which many practicing pediatric providers have never seen outside textbooks thanks to the success of vaccines. He also talks about how his social media posts were received online and why ...

In this episode, we discuss the definition and work-up of short stature as well as treatment of growth hormone deficiency. Marissa Kilberg, MD, MSEd, an attending physician in the Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes teaches us about who might qualify for growth hormone deficiency treatment, possible side effects, the logistics of treatment, and when treatment is not indicated. Dr. Kilberg offers primary care providers strategies...

In this episode, Juhee Lee, MD, an attending physician in the Division of Allergy and Immunology at CHOP, discusses some of the nuanced ways anaphylaxis can present and reviews the diagnostic criteria for anaphylaxis. We use a few cases to apply the diagnostic criteria to real-world challenges and discuss how to manage patients with anaphylaxis in the outpatient setting. Dr. Lee teaches us about what's new in anaphylaxis treatment,...

Sine 2023, both the FDA and AAP have supported the use of goat milk-based infant formula, but awareness of this option still lags and many think of it as a niche product. Ari Brown, MD, a board-certified practicing pediatrician in Austin, Texas, the author of the best-selling Baby 411 book series, and Kabrita’s Chief Medical Advisor, teaches us more about why families would choose a goat milk-based formula and the safety data behin...

In honor of American Heart Month, Jonathan Edelson, MD, an attending cardiologist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the Medical Director of the CHOP Sports Cardiology Clinic, talks with Katie Lockwood, MD, MEd, about sports participation for athletes with cardiac disease. Dr. Edelson addresses the importance of physical activity for children with cardiac conditions and how exercise plans should be individualized bas...

70-80% of patients do not use their asthma inhaler properly and use deteriorates over time. As Dr. Lockwood admits, many providers also don't know how to use some of the inhaler types out on the market and asthma medication shortages have led to prescribing challenges lately, so in this episode, Marcia Winston, MSN, RN, CPNP-PC, AE-C, a nurse practitioner with the Division of Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine at Children's Hospital of P...

Iron plays a crucial role in many vital functions and in this episode, Char Witmer, MD, Clinical Director of Hematology at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, gets us excited about hepcidin, ferritin, reticulocyte counts, and more! We discuss why premature infants are particularly vulnerable to iron-deficiency anemia, how to provide supplementation, dietary sources of iron, laboratory measurements of iron, and more in this fascina...

Have you ever seen a baby eating a chicken drumstick? Or gnawing on a whole strawberry or broccoli floret? Many healthcare providers may not have learned about baby-led weaning and therefore, may not teach parents about this method of introducing solids and teaching babies about self-feeding. In this episode, Dr. Katie Lockwood and Kary Rappaport, OTR/L, MS, SCFES, IBCLC, a senior feeding and swallowing specialist on the team at So...

Healthcare professionals may use social media for a variety of purposes including developing a professional network, increasing personal awareness of news, listening to experts, and/or consulting colleagues. It can also be a tool to disseminate research, market practices, engage in health advocacy, and engage with professional organizations. Increasingly we are seeing health care professionals provide health information to the comm...

Of the roughly 500,000 US children with epilepsy, 30% will continue to have seizures despite medication management. This seizure burden can have significant impacts on a child’s development, school performance, social life, sports participation, driving ability, mental health, and more. In this episode, we talk about surgical approaches to drug-resistant epilepsy and explore some of the newest advances in neurosurgery with Benjamin...

Financial planning is not often taught to physicians but is an important topic!  In this episode, Sam Lewis, CFP®, ChFC®, MQFP®, Founder of SJL Financial, LLC, guides us through how we should think about life insurance, disability insurance, loan repayment, contract negotiations, savings accounts, wills, retirement, and more! While financial planning is an individual decision, this episode provides a general framework to start thin...

Gregory Heuer, MD, PhD, a Children's Hospital of Philadelphia neurosurgeon, explains tethered cord, including the embryologic development, diagnosis through imaging, clinical signs and symptoms, surgical approaches, and long-term prognosis. As a co-author of the CHOP Clinical Pathway on Tethered Cord Release, Dr. Heuer provides insight into what to expect after surgery, which is helpful to anyone involved in the care of patients wi...

In 2010, Congress passed the Hunger-Free Kids Act to help ensure that every American child has access to a balanced school lunch. This is important because many children rely on schools to meet a large portion of their daily nutritional needs. Parents and pediatricians should be aware that new rules will gradually place limits on added sugars and reduce sodium, among other changes. In this episode, we talk with Cindy Long, Deputy U...

Twins account for 3% of live births in the US and are at risk of higher rates of fetal growth restriction, congenital anomalies, twin-twin transfusion syndrome, twin anemia polycythemia sequence, selective fetal growth restriction, and cord entanglement. In this episode, Michael Posencheg, MD, a Children's Hospital of Philadelphia neonatologist and father of twins talks to us about the care of #twins beyond the #NICU including deve...

Talking with teenagers can feel challenging, but in this episode, Kenneth Ginsburg, MD, MSEd, an attending physician in the Division of Adolescent Medicine and the Co-Director of the Center for Parent and Teen Communication at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, shares lessons learned from his years of research and experience with adolescents. Dr. Ginsburg's approach to teen communication focuses on facilitating youth to develop t...

Contact with infected bats is the most common cause of human rabies deaths in the US, but dog rabies remains common worldwide. Learn about other wildlife that can carry rabies, post-exposure prophylaxis, high-risk hobbies and careers, and what rabies can teach us all. Andrew Steenhoff, MBBCh, DCH, attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at CHOP and Medical Director of CHOP's Global Health Center joins us in Episo...

According to the CDC, approximately 0.6% of children aged 0-17 have active epilepsy, so in a school of 1,000 students, this means 6 of them could have epilepsy. Adolescence is a time when patients have more autonomy in caring for their chronic disease and have changes in lifestyle factors, which could be risk factors for increased seizures. In this episode, Lawrence Fried, MD, a pediatric neurologist, and Zia Gajary, MD, a primary ...