Primary Care Perspectives

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, including intranasal epinephrine, and when patients need to carry epinephrine auto-injectors. Lastly, we review the CHOP Clinical Pathway for the Evaluation/Treatment of Children with Anaphylaxis, which is a great resource. 

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 behind its use in the US. Dr. Brown also gives us a great review of all of components of formula and what we should be looking for in the ingredients. In this episode, we also discuss the risks of homemade infant formula, raw milk, and unregulated formula, and Dr. Brown shares her experience in working in both the formula industry and in her pediatric clinic. 

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 based on a child’s cardiac condition so that they can meet their exercise goals safely. Learn about the unique CHOP Sports Cardiology Clinic and how they guide athletes and may coordinate care with cardiologists and primary care providers. #HeartMonth @HeartCare4Kids #Cardiology2025 #CHOPHeartWarrior #SportsCardiology

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 Philadelphia, walks us through various inhaler types and troubleshoots management issues. We also discuss the implementation of the 2020 GINA guidelines SMART therapy recommendations, use of and cleaning aero chambers, and a poster guide to identify mystery inhalers!

Although relatively rare with 300 cases per year in the United States, we look for retinoblastoma at every well visit. Amish Shah, MD, PhD, a neuro-oncologist at CHOP, educates us on the epidemiology, presentation, management, and prognosis of retinoblastoma, as well as how partnership between Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Wills Eye Hospital has improved outcomes for children. 

Become better prepared to respond to an emergency situation on an airplane through the experience of an emergency medicine physician at Nemours Children's Health, Steven Selbst, MD. In this episode, Dr. Selbst and Dr. Lockwood discuss why healthcare providers should respond to emergencies, the most common types of emergencies, what supplies are on board, and the resources available to responders. 

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 fascinating episode on anemia. 

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 Solid Starts, discuss the differences between choking and gagging, serving sizes at different ages, feeding challenges, handling allergens, and more, just in time for Thanksgiving! 

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 community and engage with patients on social media platforms. On this episode, Anjuli Gans, MD, a pediatrician at Karabots Pediatric Care Center in West Philadelphia, a CHOP Care Network primary care practice, who is known online for her site Resilient Rascals and its popular Instagram account of the same name with 141,000+ followers, discusses the rules of engagement, how to fight mis/dis-information, and why healthcare providers might want to create a social media account.

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 Kennedy, MD, an attending neurosurgeon and the Director of Epilepsy and Functional Neurosurgery in the Division of Neurosurgery at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.