Department of Pediatrics

Pediatrics

Raymond G. Watts, MD
Professor and Head of the Department

Ambulatory Pediatrics

Ryan H. Pasternak, MD, MPH
Section Head

The main goal of the Ambulatory Division is to teach diagnostic clinical skills, management, treatment and prevention of common pediatric illnesses. Specific case problems are provided to students. Fourth year electives in adolescent medicine, child abuse, and general outpatient pediatrics are available.

Hospitalist at Children’s Hospital

George Hescock, MD
Section Head

The Hospitalist Division provides academic and clinical instruction on an inpatient ward service at Children’s Hospital. Students learn basic diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to both simple and complex pediatric diseases in the hospital setting. Students attend didactic sessions and daily rounds with faculty and residents, and they are expected to follow patients from admission to discharge.

Clinical Genetics

Medical students have varied opportunities to learn clinical genetics during their rotation in Pediatrics. Attendance at our genetics clinics at Children’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital’s satellite clinics in Lafayette and Baton Rouge, Louisiana constitutes an excellent opportunity to learn the clinical diagnostic approach to genetic diagnoses with emphasis on the family, prenatal, natal, perinatal and postnatal history. Students learn to perform a complete, systematic, objective and discriminative physical examination. Students participate in a variety of specialty clinics including metabolic, craniofacial, neurofibromatosis, Down syndrome, and other complex diseases, which offer opportunities for learning about varied genetic anomalies. The fourth year medical students may elect to take a four-week elective in genetics. This is a good opportunity to increase their knowledge in this area and participate in the publication of papers with members of the Division.

Neonatology

Brian Barkemeyer, MD
Section Head

Third year students are given the opportunity to have hands on assessment of full term babies and, to a lesser extent, preterm and critically ill newborns during their nursery rotation at either Children’s Hospital, University Hospital or East Jefferson General Hospital. Core neonatology concepts are presented during rounds and forum discussions. Electives for fourth year students include NICU and NICU/PICU electives in the nursery at Children’s Hospital in New Orleans. During such rotations, the fourth year student will be involved in the management of critically ill infants under the direct supervision of the neonatology attending physician. Experience in diagnosis, management, and bedside procedures will be obtained.

Pediatric Allergy and Immunology

Kenneth Paris, MD
Section Head

Third year students attend the Allergy and Immunology clinics at Children’s Hospital at New Orleans. They participate in patient evaluations and discussions of management. In the Allergy/Immunology clinic, they are able to correlate the understanding of basic immunologic mechanisms with clinical findings and course. The students also observe and learn to interpret basic clinical tests such as Allergen Skin Testing, Spirometry, Food Challenge, etc.

Fourth year students may elect to spend a one month block of time in the A/I rotations. This month long elective includes management of allergic disorders as well as care of children with primary immunodeficiencies. Fourth year students participate in patient care alongside the pediatric residents and A/I fellows, and learn about immunologic diseases in more detail. The rotation includes seeing a wide variety of patients in the outpatient and inpatient setting. Students also attend departmental conferences and didactic sessions relevant to the specialty of allergy/immunology.

Pediatric Cardiology

Thomas Kimball, MD
Section Head

The clinical aspects and management of congenital and acquired heart disease are covered in small-group forum discussions for third year students. The use of non-invasive and invasive techniques for diagnosis and treatment are also reviewed. An elective block is offered to fourth year students, which provides excellent exposure to clinical problems.

Pediatric Emergency Medicine

Raghubir K. Mangat, MD
Section Head

Third-year students continue to attend teaching forums conducted by LSU Pediatric Emergency Medicine faculty at Children’s Hospital in New Orleans. A new fourth year student combined PER and clinics elective is offered. Student responsibilities include performing independent history and physical examinations, developing differential diagnoses and management plans, and discussing those with LSU Pediatrics faculty. Typical patient problems in the ER include urgent and emergent medical problems such as asthma, dehydration, febrile illness, seizure, and acute problems in children with chronic illness, i.e. sickle cell disease, cystic fibrosis, and technology dependent children. Additionally surgical emergencies, minor traumas such as lacerations, sprains, strains and fractures are also evaluated and managed.

Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes

Ricardo Gomez, MD
Division Head

Medical students may pursue a more comprehensive learning experience focused on problems of endocrinology and diabetes in children and adolescents. One may choose a predominately clinical or research elective in the division. Clinical participation includes supervised patient evaluations under the guidance of experienced pediatric endocrinologists. The learning objectives also include understanding the basics of endocrine diagnostic testing, interpretation of lab test results and therapeutic management of ambulatory patients, working with other health care professionals in the care of chronically ill children, as well as inpatient consultations. There are daily endocrine clinics and inpatients rounds. Diabetes clinics offer exposure and participation in a multidisciplinary team approach to the care of children with diabetes and their families. A weekly divisional conference includes case discussions of special clinical and research topics as well as periodic journal review. Ongoing research studies in the division are centered around the prevention of childhood diabetes and its complications, as well as disorders of growth. The participant concentrating in research will learn the basics of project design, data collection and analysis and organization/presentation of research findings. Typically student participation is through a one month elective during the year or a sponsored student research program during the summer months. Special arrangements can be made for longer-term research involvement. Prerequisites required for participation in the program are intellectual curiosity and initiative.

Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition

We cover the diagnosis and treatment of common pediatric GI problems including infant regurgitation, chronic abdominal pain, inflammatory bowel disease, constipation, diarrhea, liver disease and nutritional problems in clinic and hospital settings. Children with mystery illnesses are referred from all around the country for specialized care in enteric neuromuscular disorders such as chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction and Hirschsprung’s disease.

Pediatric Hematology and Oncology

Lolie Yu, MD
Division Head

The division offers ambulatory and inpatient training for students with active participation in the evaluation and care of patients with anemia, hemophilia, sickle cell disease, childhood cancer, and hematopoietic stem cell transplant. The student becomes part of the Comprehensive Hematology-Oncology Care Team. The fourth year elective integrates the student as a member of the team at a sub-intern level who will be directly involved with the management of these patients and will have the opportunities to perform procedures such as bone marrow aspirations, bone marrow harvest, etc. and participation in the Pediatric Tumor Board meetings. The student will also participate in the weekly Pediatrics board conferences and monthly journal clubs. The students are also encouraged to write up a case report or be involved in a clinical research project for possible publication.

Pediatric Infectious Diseases

Third year medical students can attend ID Clinics where specific cases are evaluated and discussed. Fourth year medical students have the option of a 4-week elective in ID, where care is provided to inpatients (average 50-60) and outpatients (average 25-30). Specialized clinics and conferences are also available, such as Microbiology, Tuberculosis, HIV, Traveler’s, and City-wide ID Conference. Emphasis is given to critical thinking and problem-solving strategies of common pediatric ID topics and their application to general pediatrics. Finally, during ward rotations students have access to ID faculty through consultations and in-depth discussion of cases.

Pediatric Nephrology

Diego Aviles, MD
Division Head

Informal patient-oriented small-group ward teaching covers common renal diseases, acute and chronic renal failure, congenital urinary tract abnormalities, hypertension, and fluid and electrolyte management. Teaching is done during daily rounds and twice a week “topic sessions.” Third and fourth year students will participate in the nephrology outpatient clinics with attending faculty to learn about common outpatient problems such as urinary tract infections, asymptomatic proteinuria and hematuria, enuresis and hypertension. Fourth year students are offered a renal elective with full participation in all activities with the renal team including inpatient consultations, patient management care meetings, and dialysis meetings.

Pediatric Critical Care

Gary Duhon, MD
Division Head

The diagnosis, treatment and management of various pulmonary disorders are presented to third year students in patient-oriented discussions with forum leader during small group modules. Exposure to a wide variety of pulmonary and critical care patients occurs during the inpatient clerkship rotations at Children’s Hospital, New Orleans. An elective rotation is available for fourth year students.

Pediatric Rheumatology

Abraham Gedalia, MD
Section Head

The junior students participate in forum discussions covering childhood rheumatic diseases and attend pediatric rheumatology clinics at Children’s Hospital with exposure to the variety of rheumatic disorders in children.

A one month elective is offered to senior students. The rotation in pediatric rheumatology will provide the Senior Student the opportunity to experience and study in-depth the various rheumatic diseases in children. Clinical component includes supervised patient evaluations in clinics, outreach clinics (Metairie, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette), and inpatient settings, under the guidance of experienced pediatric rheumatologist.

The teaching component includes the daily pediatric rheumatology clinic and inpatient rounds, individual discussions and seminars on special topics held weekly with the pediatric residents on rotation, a weekly divisional multidisciplinary meeting, a weekly combined Pediatric Rheumatology/Rheumatology Grand Rounds and Journal Clubs at the Section of Rheumatology at LSU, and a monthly City-wide Rheumatology conferences. Clinical Research opportunities in the field of pediatric rheumatology are available at Children’s Hospital, and basic research through the Section of Rheumatology at LSUHSC.