June, 2007

Dear M-3 Students,

Welcome to Pediatrics. We hope that you will enjoy your Child Health rural track rotation, whether or not you find pediatrics to be your ultimate field of interest.

Pediatrics is the only specialty in which one may see, at one extreme, a 500 gram premature infant and, at the other, a 136 kg (300 lb) football player for a check-up. As in all of medicine, you need to know the pathophysiological basis of disease. However, in Pediatrics you also must understand the interaction between the disease and the child’s developmental milestones and psychosocial processes. There is always so much to learn! Resources for your use should be located at your local AHEC center.

Please don’t hesitate to pin all of us down with questions. Get involved and work hard. But most of all enjoy the kids. They are terrific.... and fun.

If there is anything we can do for you while you are at your rural track site, please don’t hesitate to let us know. Ruth Sypes will be able to help you with urgent and non-urgent matters.

Sincerely,

Katinka Kersten, MD Assistant Clinical Professor     Clerkship Director	Rashmi Srivastava, MD Assistant Clinical Professor Clerkship Assistant Director

Ruth Sypes

Clerkship Coordinator (882 8350)