Primary Care Perspectives

This year the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Poison Control Center celebrates it's 40th anniversary! In this episode, Fred Henretig, MD, one of the founders of the Poison Control Center reviews the history of how the Center came to be and it's role in keeping children safe and healthy in 2025. Robert Bassett, DO, teaches us about how the Poison Control Center operates and what the most common poisoning threats are today...

Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne viral illness that can have serious complications. In this episode, Lori Handy, MD, MSCE, an attending in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Associate Director of the Vaccine Education Center at CHOP, explains the symptoms of dengue, why the vaccine is uncommonly used, and how to manage fever in a returning traveler. With half of the world's population living where dengue is common, this is an ...

Delivering serious news is unfortunately a part of pediatrics. While some believe that we are inherently either good or bad at this skill, we know that is not true and that you can learn how to do this well. In this episode, Julie W. Stern, MD, the Director of Outreach Services with the Division of Oncology at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, shares best practices and lessons learned from years of having difficult conversations...

Tzield or Teplizumab, is a CD3-directed monoclonal antibody to delay the onset of Stage 3 Type 1 Diabetes in adults and pediatric patients aged 8 years and older. This is an important new treatment option because when diabetes is recognized in the early stages (Stage 2), there is an approved treatment that has been shown to delay the need for insulin by about 2-3 years. In this episode, Neha S. Patel, DO, who is an Associate Profes...

Jessi Gold, MD, MS, shares some of the lessons from her book, How Do You Feel: One doctor's search for humanity in medicine, including managing emotions, addressing burnout, and exploring self-identity. This episode feels like self-care! Learn the difference between secondary trauma, burnout, PTSD, and why healthcare workers are particularly at risk for experiencing trauma. Dr. Gold not only explores the current state of healthcare...

Two experts from the CHOP Bariatric Program, Joy Collins, MD, and Elizabeth Parks Prout, MD, MSCE, update us on the state of pediatric obesity, the current medication and surgical management options, and the outcomes of these interventions. The Adolescent Bariatric Program at CHOP is a unique collaboration between our Health and Well-being Clinic, surgeons at CHOP and HUP, clinical psychologists, a clinical dietician, a social work...

An estimated 11.4% of US children are diagnosed with ADHD. In this episode, Thomas Power, PhD, ABPP, Director of the Center for Management of ADHD at CHOP, discusses a new Clinical Pathway for the Evaluation and Treatment of ADHD and how primary care providers can utilize and promote psychosocial interventions for ADHD. We discuss behavioral parent training, peer interventions, school supports, emotion regulation, and more, in this...

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...