The act of clerking is the act of eliciting medical histories, performing Physical Examinations, general examinations and specific examinations of various systems.

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Paediatric Medicine is a branch of medicine that deals with the diseases seen in children. It is a very important part of Medicine that I love so much because as a student, it gives you the opportunity to learn so much. I cant over emphasize the fact that it is very technical. I mean very very technical.

A paediatric patient is a patient below the age of 21.

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The upper boundary of this age is not constant in all countries. In some countries the upper border is 18years and in some 17years.

What is so peculiar about Paediatrics
Unlike adult medicine, there are so many peculiarities about Paediatric medicine especially in younger children.

So many of them especially the younger children can't speak for themselves. They are mostly left to the mercy of their parents/guardian's judgement. Some might be able to tell you that they feel some pains in particular places but they can't tell you the intensity of the pain, whenit is more serious and when it wanes off. Again, you have to depend on their parent/guardian.

THE PAEDIATRIC PATIENT AND CLERKING

No clerking goes successfully well without first winning the trust of your patient and making them feel at home. This means so many things to different people and the methodology can also be personal to individuals.

First things first,
Establish a relationship
Acknowledge your patient and their guardian, greet them and tell them what you are about to do. Establish a relationship. Earn their trust. You can go as far as removing your ward coat if it reduces the childs fears. You can give them toys to play with, by all means just make them comfortable and go ahead to get the consent of your patient to go on withthe clerking.

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Afterwards
Get their Biodata
This comprises their
Name
Age: This helps us rule in and rule out some diseases.
Sex:
State of Origin (Local Government Area)
Address: This helps for easy patient tracing.
Informant: This is used when a different person other than the patient gives the information. The name and relationship between the patient and the person providing the information is stated also.

Clerking a Paediatrics Patient will be continued in the next post.

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Other source
My Paediatrics Note
Paediatric classes
Paediatric Conference

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