You can’t turn on the radio or television, or even walk into most exam rooms these days without thinking about weight, and specifically the rising numbers of our patients who are designated as overweight or obese. But what does this mean for health? Conventional medical teaching is that being overweight is correlated with worse health outcomes. But….what if that's wrong? What if there is a weight neutral approach to health that doesn’t focus exclusively on a patient’s BMI? Here to talk to us abo...
Nov 11, 2022•25 min
Meningitis is one of the most potentially devastating diseases a child can get. On this episode of Talking Pediatrics, Dr. Gabi Hester will talk with 2 of our Kid Experts - Dr. Emily Harrison and Dr. Asitha Jayawardena - about the diagnosis and management of this type of infection. View the transcript here: https://www.childrensmn.org/for-health-professionals/talking-pediatrics-podcast/talking-pediatrics-guidelines-gabi-spinal-tap-11-4-22/...
Nov 04, 2022•20 min
Preterm birth affects approximately 1 of every 10 infants born in the United States, and almost all of those infants will end up spending time in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit or NICU. For many, this involves several days of infants receiving care in a hospital, with parents unable to take their babies home, disrupting their family and work life. Often the first question families ask their NICU care teams is, “When can I go home?” Recently, Children’s Minnesota launched the Children’s Home Appl...
Oct 28, 2022•20 min
It’s no secret that we are facing a mental health crisis among our pediatric patients. Kids and teenagers have higher rates of depression and anxiety than ever before, and suicide has now become the second leading cause of death for adolescents. More and more of our patients and families are seeking mental health care support and services, and we have an unfortunate shortage of pediatric and adolescent mental health specialists to fill the need. This has resulted in kids showing up in clinics an...
Oct 21, 2022•23 min
We learn more and more every day about the impact that sleep has on both our physical and mental health. Despite this, many adults are chronically sleep deprived and many kids and teenagers also don't get enough sleep. On today's Talking Pediatrics, our Kid Expert from the Sleep Clinic, Dr. Ben Ryba-White, joins us to talk about the importance of sleep, the mysteries of melatonin and what we can be doing in the primary care office to help improve the sleep habits of our young patients. View the ...
Oct 14, 2022•23 min
In this episode of Equity Actions, our Health Equity Manager Adriene Thornton interviews Myriam Roby, Clinical Director of Equity and Inclusion, about how to overcome health disparities in the inpatient setting. Join them in this discussion about everything from mental health care, how to effectively communicate with patients and families and how we can use data effectively to improve health outcomes for some of our most vulnerable patients. View the transcript here: https://www.childrensmn.org/...
Oct 07, 2022•25 min
In this episode of Talking Pediatrics, Dr. Gabi Hester reviews new guidelines recently published by the American Academy of Pediatrics for the diagnosis and management of hyperbilirubinemia in newborns. View the transcript here: https://www.childrensmn.org/for-health-professionals/talking-pediatrics-podcast/talking-pediatrics-guidelines-gabi-code-yellow-new-guidelines-hyperbilirubinemia-9-30-22/...
Sep 30, 2022•23 min
Marijuana and cannabis are all over the news these days. Legalization of THC products has occurred in many states across the country, and while the goal is to decriminalize a substance with history disproportionately putting people of color in prison, the end result is that cannabis products of all kinds are more widely available and can more easily end up reaching our adolescent patients. Join this conversation with Dr. Sara Polley, a triple-board certified physician and psychiatrist and the me...
Sep 23, 2022•23 min
A mysterious wave of acute hepatitis in children is currently under investigation spanning 43 states as well as international borders. These cases are unique in that typical causes for liver injury such as viral Hepatitis A-E have not been found. Though the causal pathway for liver injury is unknown, association with a certain virus of cold-causing daycare fame has been demonstrated in more than half of patients: adenovirus, particularly F type 41. Worldwide most children have fully recovered th...
Sep 16, 2022•23 min
On this episode of Talking Pediatrics, we talk about hair and health, and not in the ways you might expect. Health Equity manager and Kid Expert Adriene Thornton interviews nurse Courtney Kenefick on what hair symbolizes in black culture, why hair is so important to black culture and why knowing this history and importance can help us take better care of our patients and decrease health disparities. From examining our policies around ethnic hair, to checking our supply shelves for appropriate ha...
Sep 09, 2022•23 min
As cases rise, and some start showing up in kids, it’s time we all learn what we need to know to counsel, prevent and prepare for Monkeypox. We are joined by our Kid Expert infection preventionist, Joe Kurland, to learn how to counsel and care for our pediatric and adolescent patients. Join us as we discuss common symptoms, how to test, how to treat, pediatric vaccination options and, also dispel some common myths about how the disease is spread. View the transcript here: https://www.childrensmn...
Sep 02, 2022•26 min
Summer is widely known as "trauma season" for children and teenagers. The combination of more activity, more opportunities for accidents and less parental oversight can result in more traumatic injury for kids. On this podcast, we interview Kid Expert Dr. Eric Lund, orthopedic trauma surgeon, and a key player in our adolescent and young adult trauma program, about how to keep kids safe(r) and avoid traumatic injury and what to do in the primary care office when injuries present to ensure the bes...
Aug 26, 2022•17 min
In June 2022, the Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe vs Wade decision that for almost 50 years provided constitutional protection for legal abortion in the United States. Since the decision was overturned, over half of the states in the country have either banned or severely restricted access to abortion. How does this impact how we take care of our adolescent patients? What are the implications of unplanned pregnancy for the adolescents we care for with chronic health conditions? How mig...
Aug 12, 2022•31 min
Join us today as our guest host, Adriene Thornton, Children's Minnesota Health Equity Manager, discusses the importance of understanding data disaggregation and the impact on health equity with guest, Dr. Nathan Chomilo, MD. Dr. Chomilo is Medical Director for the State of Minnesota's Medicaid and MinnesotaCare programs, as well as a general pediatrician. View the transcript here: https://www.childrensmn.org/for-health-professionals/talking-pediatrics-podcast/talking-pediatrics-health-equity-act...
Aug 05, 2022•21 min
Books can be joyful, imaginative, thought-provoking, thrilling. But unfortunately at times they may perpetuate stereotypes, racism, discrimination, under-representation or "other-ness". And so may their authors in the real world. How do we respond to this - as parents or book-lovers, or pediatricians? On this episode, Dr. Gabi Hester hosts a book club with four Kids Experts and avid book readers to explore strategies for when kids books miss the mark. View the transcript here: https://www.childr...
Jul 29, 2022•26 min
Screens in all forms have become a part of our daily lives, and a part of the world that all kids are navigating. How do we as pediatric clinicians help families navigate the world of screens? What does the data tell us about the impact of screens (and types of screens) on child development? Join host Dr. Angela Kade Goepferd and Kid Expert and director of psychological services, Dr. Sarah Jerstad in this conversation about how to approach screen time at different ages, what traps to avoid, and ...
Jul 22, 2022•24 min
Summer is filled with long days, warm nights and lots of.....bugs. Including ticks, which in the case of deer ticks can translate into Lyme disease. In a conversaition had in May, Dr. Angela Goepferd chatted with Kid Expert Ashley Gyura, the clinical advisor to the NAPNAP/CDC nurse practitioner education and knowledge initiative for Lyme disease. Ashley talks to us about all things ticks, including what to watch for, how to remove them and how we can counsel patients to avoid bites. We also revi...
Jul 15, 2022•23 min
Dr. Alex Kula, pediatric nephrologist at Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago, provides kidney pearls in this week's episode as we riff on confounding urine dipstick results. Join us as we navigate incidental proteinuria, hematuria and its origins, post-strep glomerulonephritis, and guidance on when to approach your friendly neighborhood nephrologist. Dr. Fate and Dr. Kula also wax nostalgic about their old cover band in Seattle, "Doctor Doctor", which critics agree was pretty ok. View the trans...
Jul 01, 2022•27 min
There is not a pediatric clinician among us who doesn’t have a patient with allergies, including food allergies, environmental allergies and/or seasonal allergies. On this episode, we talk with Dr. Nicole Chase, pediatric allergist and immunologist, about all things allergy including: current recommendations for food introduction, oral food challenges, pitfalls in “allergy testing” in primary care and what’s new and on the horizon for treatment of allergies with immunotherapy. View the transcrip...
Jun 24, 2022•25 min
On this week's episode of Talking Pediatrics, Dr. Gabi Hester talks with Dr. Anu Kalaskar, Medical Director of Children's Minnesota Infectious Disease department and Dr. Christina Koutsari, Antibicrobial Stewardship/Infectious Diseases pharmacist, to discuss the most recent updates in the treatment of COVID-19 in children. View the transcript here: https://www.childrensmn.org/for-health-professionals/talking-pediatrics-podcast/talking-pediatrics-guidelines-gabi-update-covid-19-treatment-kids-6-1...
Jun 17, 2022•23 min
In this LGBTQ Pride month Trailblazers episode, we interview national expert on LGBTQ+ health and adolescent HIV care, Dr. Rob Garofalo. Dr. Garofalo is the Chief of Adolescent medicine at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and specializes in the care of HIV+ and LGBTQ adolescents at the Center for Gender, Sexuality and HIV Prevention. He has a passion for caring for transgender and gender diverse youth and advocating to help LGBTQ kids thrive. Dr. Garofalo has received several lifetime and le...
Jun 10, 2022•25 min
Working in health care is physically and emotionally challenging. Burnout is common and statistics on health care worker suicides are sobering. On this episode of Talking Pediatrics, guest host Dr. Gabi Hester will speak with several Kid Experts about resources and strategies to support health care workers when they are in need. View the transcript here: https://www.childrensmn.org/for-health-professionals/talking-pediatrics-podcast/talking-pediatrics-peer-peer-support-supporting-colleagues-chal...
Jun 03, 2022•25 min
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, those of us caring for children and adolescents have seen a dramatic rise in stress and anxiety among the pediatric population, and a need to support kids and their mental health. In this episode, Children's own Kid Expert, Dr. Sara Gonzalez Rodriguez, licensed psychologist, joins us to discuss the impact of anxiety and stress on kids and their families, and ways clinicians can offer support during this critical time. View the transcript here: https://ww...
May 27, 2022•17 min
Is it a bird? A plane? A mobile simulation bus? Mobile simulation, which brings vehicles equipped with spaces to simulate patient care areas, task trainers, and mannequins directly to the healthcare provider, has steadily increased over the last decade. Since 2007, the Children's Minnesota Mobile Simulation Center Bus has traveled to provide hands on practice for healthcare professionals across the region. The Mobile Simulation Center is a 40 foot RV outfitted to look like a hospital space, and ...
May 13, 2022•17 min
When we talk about health equity, we often hear about overcoming both implicit and explicit bias, which implies that if we could only change individual and collective behavior, we could improve health outcomes. But what is left out of these discussions is the important factor of structural racism, the ways that our health care system were built to generate the racial health inequities we see today. Surprising to some clinicians is that structural racism is even built into the tools that we use o...
May 06, 2022•20 min
Each time a child undergoes heart transplantation, there is an entire team involved across multiple settings to make sure things go as smoothly as possible. This amazing gift of life doesn't come without risks and complications, and the pediatric heart failure and heart transplant team at Children's Minnesota wants to make sure that every primary care clinician knows how to take care of pediatric heart transplant patients before and after surgery. Join this discussion with our Kid Expert, pediat...
Apr 29, 2022•13 min
One of the more common and challenging issues we encounter in pediatrics is when we perceive that we can't meet parents expectations for treatment interventions for their child. Typically this presents to use by way of a cold or flu virus, that can't be treated by antibiotics, and yet parents want us to do something to help their child feel better. We want to avoid doing more harm than good by prescribing unneeded medications or treatment but how can we best navigate these conversations? On this...
Apr 22, 2022•24 min
On this episode, we talk to pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Meysam Kebriaei, one of our Kid Experts at Children’s Minnesota, about some of the amazing new interventions for pediatric epilepsy. The advances made in epilepsy surgery, brain and spinal cord tumors and treatment of hydrocephalus are truly remarkable. Learn how new advances in brain surgery can help patients who have previously struggled with medication side effects for epilepsy or intractable seizures, live seizure free and when to send p...
Apr 15, 2022•16 min
This week we celebrated Transgender Day of Visibility, a day that recognizes the important role that trans and gender diverse people play in our lives and communities, and the celebrates the courage it takes for many trans and gender diverse folks to live in the world as their authentic selves. On this episode, we interview Nick Alm (they/them), who lives boldly as a non-binary person, and who is the founder of Mossier, a company who works with organizations to develop LGBTQ employment equity. J...
Apr 01, 2022•22 min
Like Zoom birthdays and designer masks, multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a unique product of the COVID-19 pandemic. Appearing about 4 weeks after COVID-19 infection has cleared, it likely represents a disordered immune response that can cause appendicitis-like GI symptoms, Kawasaki-like skin findings, and most alarmingly, cardiac dysfunction and pump failure. Recognizing MIS-C’s presentation and having a diagnostic approach in mind will be increasingly important for pedi...
Mar 25, 2022•28 min
