The Education Hub - Conversation with the experts

About 15% of children globally have high blood pressure and many may not know it until it causes problems in adult life. Early detection is therefore critical to prevent cardio-vascular disease. PhD candidate, Jonathan Glenning from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute’s Heart Research Group gives us an overview of high blood pressure in children and talks about his vision of drastically increasing the rate of childhood blood pressure monitoring. 

How do you approach the common clinical presentation of constipation? In this case-based episode, we are joined by paediatric gastroenterologist, Dr Mark Oliver. Mark is given 4 typical age-related presentations, where he discusses how best to manage these.  

RCH Encoporesis Fitness Training Diary: 

https://www.rch.org.au/uploadedFiles/Main/Content/kidsinfo/constipation-encopresis-diary.pdf  

RCH Constipation Clinical Practice Guidelines: 

https://www.rch.org.au/clinicalguide/guideline_index/Constipation/  

North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition (NASPGHAN): 

https://naspghan.org/  

Learning from Wadja is a new sub-series for health professionals who work with aboriginal patients and their families. Wadja is at The Royal Children's Hospital, Australia on Wurundjeri land. In this first podcast, we ask Selena and Mick from Wadja Aboriginal Family Place how they run culturally sensitive services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families who visit RCH for care. We also discuss how Wadja was founded and a bit about its history. 

This episode with Professor Jim Buttery dives into the complexities of healthcare data sharing, the barriers created by privacy laws and disparate systems, and the potential solutions to these challenges. Key highlights include discussions on the issues with interoperability within Australian healthcare, the impact of historical systems like EMRs on data sharing and emerging technologies that could revolutionise how healthcare data is managed and utilized. Professor Buttery also touches on the role of consumer expectations in driving improvements and consumer involvement in the future of healthcare informatics. 

In this episode, we explore the intricacies of vaccine administration in community settings with Rachael McGuire, Education Nurse Coordinator at The Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre. This episode covers a range of topics, including optimal locations for childhood vaccinations, tips for immunisers, s-trategies for enhancing patient comfort and handling common concerns like allergies and illnesses. Rachael also shares valuable insights into professional collaboration, emerging trends in vaccination and essential resources for healthcare professionals. 

Whilst many people can appreciate the importance of vaccinations, there exists a small percentage of the population who are hesitant to receive them. In this episode, we chat with Dr Jessica Kaufman about the rate the vaccination amongst children in Australia, the factors that contribute to vaccine hesitancy and some practical strategies to address those who are hesitant. 

In this episode we speak with Ken Knight, Chair of the Melbourne Children's LGBTIQA+ Collective, about what it takes to be LGBTIQA+ inclusive in care, and in health and medical research.

Anyone interested in joining the Campus LGBTQIA+ Collective can email [email protected] 

MJA article - The kids are OK: it is discrimination not same-sex parents that harms children: https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2017/207/9/kids-are-ok-it-discrimination-not-same-sex-parents-harms-children 

Queers in Science: https://queersinscience.org.au/ 

Whilst the changing behaviours of patients in hospital can be caused by any number of reasons, one of these of course is due to dissatisfaction. This also occurs in some children when they are in hospital and can often be well misunderstood as to why it occurs and how it is managed. There are also adults; whether they are staff or families of patients, who may exhibit escalated behaviours. Christie and Kathy share their experiences and expertise around this topic. 

Explore the world of ECG’s from the perspective of a paediatric emergency specialist, John Cheek.  We discuss some key differences related to paediatric ECG’s in the ED such as indications, history taking tips and common paediatric pathologies. 

In this episode we speak with Hannah Nicholls, a Radiographer at St. Vincents, about her experience coming out at work. She has driven change in how her organisation supports members of the LGBTQIA+ community and has made progress in creating more welcoming spaces.