Is It a Cold, the Flu, or Covid?
December is prime time for seasonal respiratory viruses. As a parent, are you ready to identify the health concerns surrounding your child and other family members from cold, flu, or Covid-19? We’re here to help.
What to Expect When You Get Care at a Teaching Clinic
Dr 2 Kids, Smita Tandon, MD, is proud to be an active teaching clinic, helping to train the next cycle of pediatricians in a real world setting. As clinical professor of pediatrics at University of California Irvine and associate clinical professor of pediatrics at Midwestern University, Arizona, and Touro University, California, Dr. Tandon is an experienced teaching clinician and regularly hosts medical students, nurse practitioner students, and medical residents in her Fountain Valley, California, practice.
This means that your child receives supervised care from medical professionals who are at the forefront of the most up-to-date research and techniques. Dr 2 Kids helps to shape the professional values of future leaders in the health care industry, while your family benefits from this active learning environment.
What is a teaching clinic?
Generally, a teaching clinic is any outpatient medical practice that provides care for patients conducted by graduate students under the supervision of a licensed health care provider, or where the senior caregiver performs their duties as students observe. Often, teaching clinics offer services at lower costs than regular clinics.
Is the care the same at a teaching clinic?
Dr. Tandon takes pride in providing the best possible care for all of her patients. Like all medical practices, teaching clinics follow guidelines of care provided by organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
These guidelines cover all aspects of your child’s medical care, and adhering to them is part of the training offered to students in residence with Dr 2 Kids. Dr. Tandon recognizes the opportunity she has to influence future standards of care with her work with young medical professionals now.
The focus of teaching clinics
Clinical settings have long been a primary method of education for doctors. It’s a chance to apply the theories of taking histories, performing exams, and learning the “bedside manner” elements of medical caregiving. There are essentially three domains of learning shared in a teaching clinic:
- Clinical knowledge and skills
- Communications, both with patients and other medical staff
- Professionalism, including both personal conduct and patient care
Generally, patients enjoy being part of the learning process, and their participation is invaluable to a caregiver’s education. Children can respond well to youthful practitioners, so it’s often a good experience for everyone.
The knowledge aspects of medical care, while extensive and time-consuming, are often the easiest teachables. Imparting clinical skills such as dealing with demanding patients is much more difficult since these are aspects that require exposure to develop experience.
Even harder to teach is attitude. A person’s intent at the start of their medical career can be altered as they discover real-world conditions that may not match their expectations. Teaching clinics provide the practical conditions to expand on classroom knowledge.
Dr. Tandon is as proud of her role as a teacher as she is of the care your child receives at Dr 2 Kids. Make an appointment for your child by phone or online. The office is also accepting Telehealth virtual visits, so your child’s health is easier to assure than ever. Book a session today.
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