Medical Education Blog
Evidence-based clinical guides and educational articles for medical students and practicing clinicians, with direct links to free pediatric calculators.
Pediatric Echo Z-Scores: A Practical Guide
Learn how to interpret echocardiographic z-scores in children, when measurements are abnormal, and how Pettersen and Lopez datasets compare for cardiac structure assessment.
Kawasaki Disease: Diagnosis, Coronary Monitoring, and Risk Stratification
Evidence-based approach to diagnosing Kawasaki disease in children, including incomplete presentations, coronary artery z-score monitoring, and the Kobayashi score for IVIG resistance.
Neonatal Jaundice: AAP Guidelines, Phototherapy Thresholds, and Bilirubin Nomograms
A comprehensive guide to evaluating and managing neonatal hyperbilirubinemia using the 2022 AAP guidelines, Bhutani nomogram, and phototherapy threshold calculators.
Pediatric Growth Assessment: WHO, CDC, and Specialty Growth Charts Explained
How to choose and interpret growth charts in pediatric practice, including WHO standards for infants, CDC charts for older children, and specialty charts for Down syndrome and Turner syndrome.
Pediatric Sepsis: The Phoenix Criteria and Organ Dysfunction Scoring
Understanding the 2024 Phoenix Sepsis criteria for children, including the pSOFA score, organ dysfunction assessment, and evidence-based management of pediatric septic shock.
QTc Prolongation in Children: Causes, Formulas, and Clinical Decision-Making
A guide to evaluating corrected QT interval in pediatric patients, comparing Bazett and Fridericia formulas, identifying long QT syndrome, and managing QT-prolonging medications.
Pediatric Head Trauma: The PECARN Rule for CT Decision-Making
How to apply the PECARN clinical decision rule to minimize unnecessary CT scans in children with head injuries while safely identifying those at risk for clinically important traumatic brain injury.
The APGAR Score: Neonatal Assessment, Interpretation, and Clinical Significance
Understanding the APGAR scoring system for newborn assessment, its clinical significance at 1 and 5 minutes, limitations, and relationship to neonatal outcomes and resuscitation decisions.
Pediatric IV Fluid Management: Maintenance Fluids, Deficit Replacement, and DKA Protocols
Evidence-based approach to pediatric fluid therapy including Holliday-Segar maintenance calculations, dehydration assessment, deficit replacement, and the two-bag method for DKA.
Growth Monitoring in Preterm Infants: Fenton Charts, Corrected Age, and Nutritional Optimization
How to accurately track growth in premature infants using Fenton growth charts, corrected gestational age, and evidence-based strategies for nutrition and fortification in the NICU.
Pediatric Pain Assessment: Choosing the Right Scale for Every Age Group
A comparison of validated pediatric pain scales including FLACC, Wong-Baker FACES, COMFORT-B, and CRIES, with guidance on selecting the appropriate tool by patient age and clinical setting.
Pediatric Blood Pressure: AAP 2017 Guidelines, Percentiles, and Hypertension Staging
How to screen for hypertension in children using age-, sex-, and height-based blood pressure percentiles from the 2017 AAP Clinical Practice Guideline.
Assessing Kidney Function in Children: GFR Estimation, CKD Staging, and Electrolyte Interpretation
A practical guide to evaluating pediatric renal function using the Schwartz formula, creatinine clearance, fractional excretion of sodium, and urine electrolyte ratios.
Vasoactive Infusions in the PICU: Dosing, Pharmacology, and the Vasoactive-Inotropic Score
A practical overview of vasoactive medications used in pediatric critical care, including dopamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine, milrinone, and how to calculate the vasoactive-inotropic score.
Evaluating the Febrile Infant: Step-by-Step Risk Stratification Under 60 Days
Evidence-based approach to the febrile infant younger than 60 days, including inflammatory marker interpretation, urinalysis evaluation, and validated risk stratification tools.
Body Surface Area in Pediatrics: Formulas, Drug Dosing, and Burn Assessment
Understanding BSA calculation methods in pediatric medicine, including Haycock, Mosteller, and DuBois formulas, their applications in chemotherapy dosing, and burn surface area estimation.
Neonatal Respiratory Assessment: Oxygenation Indices, P/F Ratio, and Surfactant Dosing
How to assess respiratory status in neonates using the oxygenation index, P/F ratio, A-a gradient, and evidence-based surfactant administration protocols.
Pediatric Mental Health Screening: PHQ-A, SCARED, C-SSRS, and Vanderbilt ADHD Tools
A clinician's guide to validated mental health screening instruments for children and adolescents, including depression, anxiety, suicidality risk, and ADHD assessment.
Pediatric Nutrition: Caloric Requirements, TPN Calculations, and Enteral Feeding Strategies
Evidence-based approach to pediatric nutritional assessment and support, including WHO caloric requirements, TPN macro calculations, glucose infusion rate, and breast milk fortification.
Scoring Respiratory Illness in Children: Westley Croup Score and HASS Asthma Assessment
How to use validated clinical scoring systems to objectively assess severity in children presenting with croup and acute asthma exacerbations, guiding treatment escalation decisions.