Course Syllabus
Aims
Gain knowledge about the specificities of the physical examination of the growing child at different age, in order to promptly detect pathological findings in the child.
Provide general advice about the management of uncomplicated clinical conditions frequently affecting the child and identify pathological disorders that prompt specialized referral for further assessment or treatment.
Acquire knowledge and understanding about growth, cognitive development and nutrition from the newborn stage to adolescence.
Acquire skills in collecting medical history with specific regard to perinatal period, cognitive and somatic development, exanthematic childhood diseases, immunization and pubertal attainments.
Promote health in childhood and adolescence by encouraging precocious immunization, systematic screening programs (dried blood spot screening at birth, hearing and sight evaluations at fixed timepoints) and supporting healthy diet.
Contents
The course will provide students with basic concepts about the physiology of the growing child, from the newborn stage to adolescence. In addition, the student will be taken through the typical and atypical clinical presentations of the commonest pediatric diseases and the specificities of the diagnostic-therapeutic workflows that should guide clinicians in approaching the sick child. Finally, the course will address the foremost health-promoting programs, including immunization and newborn screenings.
Detailed program
Principles of growth, nutrition and neurodevelopment of the healthy child
The physiology of the newborn and the foremost diseases involving either the preterm or the term newborn
Genetic disorders: principles of dysmorphology and diagnostic techniques in the field of human genetics
Inborn errors of metabolism: the role of neonatal screening and the red flags for suspecting a metabolic disorder
Infectious diseases: specificities of pediatric epidemiology, clinical presentation and treatment solutions. The preemptive role of immunization
Gastroenterology and hepatology: problem-based approach to the most frequent gastrointestinal symptoms and signs reported in childhood; epidemiology, clinical presentation and treatment specificities of hepato-gastric disorders of the child and adolescent
Respiratory-tract disorders
Hemato- and hemato-oncological diseases of childhood: practical approach to abnormal full blood count findings; epidemiology, clinical presentation and treatment specificities of liquid and solid tumors in childhood.
Rheumatologic disorders of the child.
Endocrinological diseases: problem-based approach to the most frequent auxological complaints; epidemiology, clinical presentation and treatment specificities of endocrine disorders occurring in childhood and adolescence.
Nephrology: specificity of urinary and renal disorders of the child
Principles for an integrated approach to the specific needs of pediatric patients with physical and/or cognitive disability
Emergency in pediatrics: diagnostic and therapeutic workflows
Prerequisites
Fundamentals of the physiology and pathology of fetal development
Fundamentals of fetus-to-newborn period transition: the physiology and its deviations
Teaching form
Frontal lectures
Problem based learning
Simulation activities
Clerkship and bedside activity
Textbook and teaching resource
Nelson’s Essentials of Pediatrics, 21st Edition
Semester
First
Assessment method
Student reviews on selected topics
Written examination:
- multiple choice tests
- open questions
Common discussion of tests upon results
Office hours
At the end of each teaching class
By appointment - by e-mail request
