Subramanian Mahadevan
Professor Emeritus Pediatrics, Sri Venkateshwaraa Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Ariyur, Pondicherry, India.
Former Dean, JIPMER, Pondicherry, India.
Indian J Pediatr. 2025 Feb;92(2):164-169. doi: 10.1007/s12098-024-05321-9. Epub 2024 Dec 17.
The 48 y as a pediatrician, serving children and families was beyond attending to their presenting complaints. The combined roles as a child health doctor, medical teacher, researcher and administrator were interesting, nevertheless a tightrope walk. The lessons and wisdom that emerged from my learning journey, guided by my esteemed mentors, made me realise that the history and physical examination remain as the foundation of clinical assessment of a well or an ill child, even when we rely on technology to make a diagnosis. My mentors' photos are provided as Annexure (Supplementary File S1). The diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB), epigenetics of childhood TB, scorpion and snake envenomation and their timely recognition and treatment, organising pediatric accident and emergency and critical care services, training all concerned, advocacy against unnecessary injections in children, imparting perseverance and skills to care for developmentally challenged children engaged me in this journey- a mixed blessing in retrospect! It dawned on me at various stages that education of mothers should be given the high priority. This can be through personal contacts or digital enabling with useful academic information, providing parenting and personal support for Child Life Care. I find that an active pursuit of evidence-based practice, advocacy against harmful practices and beliefs, understanding the link with laboratory and nursing personnel became my approach in practice, thanks to my mentors, teachers and children whom I was able to take care of.
作为一名儿科医生的48年里,为儿童及其家庭提供服务远不止是处理他们的就诊主诉。儿童健康医生、医学教师、研究员和行政管理人员的多重角色很有趣,但也是如履薄冰。在我尊敬的导师的指引下,我在学习过程中获得的经验和智慧让我意识到,即使我们依靠技术进行诊断,病史和体格检查仍然是评估健康或患病儿童的临床基础。我导师的照片作为附件(补充文件S1)提供。结核病(TB)的诊断、儿童结核病的表观遗传学、蝎子和蛇咬伤及其及时识别和治疗、组织儿科事故与急救以及重症监护服务、培训所有相关人员、倡导反对对儿童不必要的注射、培养照顾发育障碍儿童的毅力和技能,这些都让我投身于这段旅程——回想起来真是喜忧参半!在不同阶段我逐渐明白,母亲的教育应该被高度重视。这可以通过个人接触或提供有用学术信息的数字手段来实现,为儿童生活护理提供育儿和个人支持。多亏了我的导师、老师以及我能够照顾的孩子们,我发现在实践中积极追求循证实践、倡导反对有害做法和观念、理解与实验室及护理人员的联系成为了我的工作方法。