Pediatric Endocrinology
Trainees learn skills related to history, examination, assessment, and plan for ambulatory patients with endocrine problems referred to a pediatric subspecialty endocrine clinic. Patient-based mentored assessment of historical findings, examination and therapeutic plan is developed by the trainees in concert with a faculty attending. Pragmatic and theoretical issues are discussed, as are practical, cultural, confidentiality, ethical and socioeconomic issues, in this format. Patients seen in this venue include those with a wide range of endocrine problems excluding Diabetes Mellitus who are seen in the Pediatric Diabetes Clinic. Some of the endocrine problems seen in this context are:
- Short stature including constitutional delay, syndromes associated with short stature, and growth hormone deficiency
- Disorders of sexual differentiation and of gonadal function
- Disorders of sex steroid secretion and metabolism including congenital adrenal hyperplasia
- Disorders of adrenal gland physiology, including steroid and catecholamine synthesis, secretion, and metabolism and neoplasia
- Disorders of fluid and electrolyte metabolism including diabetes insipidus
- Disorders of the anterior pituitary physiology including growth hormone deficiency and management of patients with treated pituitary disease, especially pituitary tumors and of patients with irradiation induced pituitary dysfunction
- Disorders of delayed or precocious onset of puberty
- Disorders of hypothalamic regulation of hormonal secretion
- Diagnosis and management of thyroid disorders including congenital hypothyroidism, evaluation of nodules, and management of thyroid cancer
- Disorders of calcium and skeletal metabolism including conditions related to the parathyroid and vitamin D metabolism