Paediatrics 1: Day 1

Today I started my first day of a posting I've been vehemently waiting for since the first year of meical school! It was time for paediatrics!

First I'll tell you why I love paediatrics so much. Back in my first year, I was privelleged to have been able to do some clinical work in the paediatric department during my respiratory block. It was then I clerked my first asthma case, saw my first cystic fibrosis case, clerked a fever for a toddler from a caretaker. The range of diseases in paediarics was so broad and I was always anicipating what interesting case I'd see the next time I had a clinical day. However, that's not the main reason I love paeds. It was in paeds where I actually thought that I was taking history was to help the patient as a whole. It is absulotuely loveley to clerk history from parents because you can see how much they love thier children when they talk about them, the pain in their eyes as they think about the child's suffering, the flicker of hope when the doctor comes over to give updates on the patients and the absolute 101% energy they give into caring for their kids. All that was so infectious and I wanted to do anything I could to help the little child in front of me. Another thing I absolutely loved about paediatrics was the fun and joy from talking to an interacting with the kid. Some people hate hearing kids bawl and cry, but to me if the child is in tears, there's something wrong and we should try to do something for them. It is always rewarding after playing to a child and to see their innocent smiles as they show their joy to you. I absolutely love how these kids have such great fighting spirits! Despite the ailments that aflick them, they still can play and smile and even make their parents and the doctors smile. It truly is a rewarding speciality to be in. This was what mad me really look forward to my clinical paediatric posting in third year. Now, here I am.

To be very honest, I was kind of worried about my first day in padeatrics. What if it wasn't what I had imagined it to be? What if I had hyped it too much and now I'll be dissapointed? What if paediatrics wasn'nt meant for me? These are the thoughts that went through my head as I was about to start my first day. Today I was posted in the clinics and let me tell you, I wasn't wrong. Today was the best day of my clinical years! In the clinic I got to see some interesting cases such as thallesemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia and even a benign pelvic mass! I mostly observd throughout the consultation but what I see today was amazing. It was amazing to see how the doctor thoroughly screened the child and the physical examination was so smooth! (She did a mix of every system in under 2 minutes and I was left flabergasted as here I am still struggling to finish an abdominal examintion n 6 minutes!). It was amazing to see how she talked to the parents and despite the patient's main issue being thallesemia, the doctor noted the child's large body habitus and showed the father and the child his growth chart and some advice to lose weight because he was well above the 90th centile. I love how comprehensive this speciality is! It's not just the disease we're treating, it is the entire child! It's almost like we're raising a healthy child (in not just medical health but overall health!). It was endearing too to see how involved the patients were in the patients condition. I was so touched seeing how into the consultation the father was, he was literally leaning over the table as the doctor was explaining the radiological findings to really understand what was going on with their child! The mother was so thorough with all the child's investigations, evena asking about why the tumour was 0.5cm bigger this time than last time. 0.5cm! I use to think small outliers like this were something we could ignore or maybe due to discrepancies in measurements but to the mother, that 0.5cm is something ailing her child and no number is too small to worry about! Another great experience I had in the clinic today when a very jovial and vibrant child came in. From the moment she came into the consultation room, I knew she wanted to play so I mustered enough courage (to not just stand behind the doctor like a log) and play with her. While playing, I remembered a few things from my development assessment and tried asking her to draw a shape. It was so nice to be able to expeirence the integration of play while simeltaneuosly assessing the growth and development of the child. I hope that next time I get another chance I'm able to do a better developmental assessment which is faster and smoother yet still fun for the kid!

Though it was only 2 hours of clinic, I had more fun today than all my previous clinical sessions. I hope the rest of my days in this posting is as great as it is today!