Talking Pediatrics

How much time have you spent thinking about how you communicate with patients? Are you good at it? How would you know? Could we be causing harm by not communicating clearly with our patients? Join us as we talk with Dr. Mike Pitt, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Hospitalist at the University of Minnesota, about the science of communication, common “medial jargon” pitfalls and learn some tips for how to make sure that we are communicating clearly to patients and families in a variety of clinical scenarios.

As kids flock outside to play this summer, musculoskeletal infections are on thing that could slow them down. In this episode guest host Dr. Gabi Hester will dig deep into the evidence with Dr. Jennifer Laine, Pediatric Orthopedic surgeon as well as Dr. Raj Srivastava, Pediatric Hospitalist about the diagnosis and management of musculoskeletal infections.

Often when we think of simulation, we think of the use of mannequins to practice procedures or simulate a trauma or event, but nothing really prepares you for "real life" in quite the same way as simulating with actual human beings, or standardized patients. Listen to guest host Dr. Samreen Vora as she interviews Joe Miller, human simulation program manager at the University of Minnesota, about the use of live pediatric simulated patients or actors to simulate everything from a "mass casualty" event with multiple high school students to a difficult conversation between a transgender patient and their provider. Standardized patients, or SPs, can be powerful patient teachers that help us improve care for marginalized populations, as they shape the narrative of their experiences and train clinicians to provide culturally responsive care.

Almost one year ago, the world watched in horror as former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on the neck of George Floyd, ultimately taking his life. After this event, and in the middle of a global pandemic, we both watched and participated in a global awakening and uprising for racial justice, with many heeding the call to take action to end systemic racism as they never had before. While Derek Chauvin's trial gets underway and we prepare for the one year anniversary of George's Floyd's death, we sit down with our guest host James Burroughs, VP and Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer at Children's Minnesota, to talk about what it's been like to continue the work of advancing health equity and inclusion over the last year, what progress has been made, what work there still is to be done. We talk about the disparate impact of the COVID pandemic on communities of color, our drive for equitable vaccine distribution and the impact of racial trauma on our colleagues and patients of color during the current Chauvin trial. Note: This episode was recorded two weeks before Daunte Wright was killed by a Brooklyn Park, MN police officer, reigniting the grief and anger of racial profiling and police violence here in the Twin Cities.

2021 is shaping up to be one of the worst years for anti-LGBTQ legislation to date. So far over 175 bills have been introduced in 32 states that seek to restrict the rights of LGBTQ individuals, with several of them specifically targeting transgender and gender diverse kids. This coordinated, multistate effort to target vulnerable transgender youth is rooted in fear and misinformation. Guest host James Burroughs, VP and Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer, interviews Dr. Angela Kade Goepferd, Chief Education Officer, Chief of Staff and Medical Director of the Gender Health Program at Children's Minnesota about what equity actions you can take as a clinician (or parent or community member) to protect transgender kids as they are being banned from sports participation and denied access to life saving medical care. Learn how to dispel myths about transgender athletes and what we know about the evidence behind providing gender affirming care to kids and teenagers.

We are now over a year into our journey with COVID-19 and so much has changed. We are rolling out vaccines, we are battling new variants, and we are desperately trying to tip that scales toward controlling the pandemic and despite rising new cases. On this Guidelines with Gabi edition of Talking Pediatrics, Dr. Gabi Hester interviews Christina Koutsari, Pharm D, about the Bamlanivimab, one of the latest treatment options for COVID-19. Bamlanivimab has received FDA emergency use authorization for use in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 who are at risk for serious progression of disease. On this episode, you'll learn how this therapy works, which pediatric patients are eligible, in both the inpatient and outpatient setting and what we know about efficacy of this treatment for emerging variants.

Many of us have had significant professional and personal impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, and our lives have changed in ways that are only now just becoming clear a year later. Join us for a unique conversation with a seasoned critical care physician, Dr. Stephen Kurachek, as he reflects on what it was like to follow the evolving science of the COVID pandemic as a part of the HICS team at Children's Minnesota, what he observed about the impact of the pandemic and isolation on our humanity, and what lessons we can take away from the past year as we move forward with a culture of empathy and kindness.

On this Equity Actions episode of Talking Pediatrics, our guest host, VP and Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer James Burroughs, interviews Dr. Rachel Hardeman PhD, MPH, the newly appointed Blue Cross Endowed Professor of Health and Racial Equity at the UMN School of Public Health and the founding director of the Center for Antiracism Research for Health Equity. Does it make a difference if Black patients have a Black doctor? What impact does police violence have on community health outcomes? Listen to Dr. Hardeman explain how focusing on racism as a fundamental cause of health inequities can help us improve outcomes for our patients and find out what steps we can take at the individual and system level to advance health equity.

A year into the pandemic, and we still continue to learn more about how SARS CoV-2 infection affects kids. So, what should pediatric clinicians be looking for when it comes to signs and complications of COVID in children? One thing we know for sure is that "COVID clots". On this episode, Dr. Gabi Hester interviews our hematology specialist Dr. Kate Garland about what we know about clotting in kids with COVID, which kids are most vulnerable, and which kids, and at what ages, should be put on thromboprophylaxis to prevent clotting complications. Dr. Hester and Dr. Garland also walk through the new Children's Minnesota clinical guideline on VTE prophylaxis in kids with COVID.

It's hard to prepare for the unexpected, though in healthcare, we often rely on Simulation to help us hone our skills for unexpected and high stress medical events, such as a medical code or trauma. But sometimes, the unexpected happens on such a large scale that it's almost unimaginable how we could possibly prepare. Perhaps surprisingly, Simulation can also be used in for these "disaster" situations like extreme weather, mass casualty events, school shootings, and yes, even a pandemic. Join guest host, Dr. Samreen Vora, as she interviews Ken Combs, Emergency Preparedness Program Manager, to hear stories of applying Simulation to the "extreme" of the unexpected and how partnering with simulation specialists ("simulationists") can bring a sense of realism to disaster practice.