I participated in two site evaluations during the pediatric clinical rotation. I presented two history and physicals, ten medications, an article pertaining to a patient I presented and a summary of the article. The first patient I presented was diagnosed with bronchiolitis. This was a common diagnosis during my rotation, but this particular patient presented a bit differently than others and I found this case to be an interesting one. The second patient I presented was diagnosed with asthma aggravated by gastro-esophageal reflux. This was a fascinating case, with both conditions appearing to be present concurrently. Asthma exacerbated by reflux is a problem we often hear about in adult patients, but I was not expecting to encounter a twelve-year-old male with this diagnosis.
The medications I presented were all medications that I saw prescribed on a weekly basis in the pediatric emergency room as well as used in the clinic and neonatal ICU. I presented steroids, antibiotics, pain medications, and many topical medications. This allowed me to expand my knowledge of the adverse effects, various indications, and contraindications of the most commonly used medications in the pediatric population.
Lastly, the article I presented and summarized pertained to one of the patients I presented. The article was a study on the over-prescription of antibiotics in bronchiolitis, as this was something that occurred with the patient I presented. I was confused as to why the provider decided to prescribe antibiotics for a clearly viral illness, and the article discussed how this is a common error that has not decreased even since the American Academy of Pediatrics released guidelines addressing this issue.