BACKGROUND Cancer is the second cause of death in children and its diagnosis can be difficult, due to the presence of vague and non-specific symptoms. The primary care pediatrician is often involved in the diagnostic process, but no longer in child care once the treatment started. Care models involving both primary care pediatricians and oncologic referral centre highlighted a higher family sat...

BACKGROUND The shortage of physicians in Japan is a serious concern, particularly in specialties like pediatrics. The purpose of this study was to investigate recent changes in the geographic distribution of pediatricians and the factors underlying this change. METHODS We investigated the numerical changes in the pediatrician workforce (2002 to 2007) per 100,000 of the population under the ag...

CASE Jimmy, a 2 1/2-year-old boy, was seen for the first time by a new pediatrician after a recent family move. His mother made the appointment for a health supervision visit although she had concerns about his language and social skills. She stated that he spoke primarily with unintelligible sounds and often communicated by pointing with his finger. He spoke only 10 words that were clear enoug...

CASE Jimmy, a 21⁄2-year-old boy, was seen for the first time by a new pediatrician after a recent family move. His mother made the appointment for a health supervision visit although she had concerns about his language and social skills. She stated that he spoke primarily with unintelligible sounds and often communicated by pointing with his finger. He spoke only 10 words that were clear enough...

The patient was an 8-year-old girl who was referred to a physical therapist by her pediatrician for a chief complaint of worsening proximal right calf pain and progressive right-sided toe walking for the past 6 weeks. Due to concern that the patient's symptoms were nonmusculoskeletal in nature, the physical therapist discussed the history and physical examination findings with the patient's ped...