- To develop a method of care for well and acutely and chronically ill children, which recognizes the child as an individual within the context of the family unit and the community. Within this context, the student should understand the services available in the public and private sector to meet the needs of children, and the need for the physician to be an advocate for the child within this same context.
- To use problem oriented pediatric history and physical examination to develop clinical assessment, differential diagnosis, and planned approach for specific pediatric problems encountered.
- To understand that children are individuals within a particular family unit, and that variations in cultural background of families will influence their understanding and approach to both health care and illness. This will require that the student develop techniques of educating and communicating with patients and families which considers the context of each individual's circumstances.
- To understand that evaluation of childhood health as well as disease depends on the stage of growth and development of the child.
- To become familiar with common pediatric illnesses and appreciate their relative prevalence within individual populations.
- To utilize previously learned human biology to understand the clinical problems encountered during childhood.
- To understand the basic concepts of childhood growth and development and use that information to obtain the skills necessary to work with and evaluate children at all stages of physical and psychosocial development.
- To recognize that pediatrics is a field of preventive medicine, the goal of which is to maintain health by preventing illness, as well as caring for illness once it occurs (immunization practices, injury prevention, nutrition, etc).
- To learn the indications for common pediatric procedures including laboratory evaluations, radiologic evaluations, lumbar punctures, intramuscular injections, and other common pediatric procedural techniques.
- To learn the leading causes of death among children, including the impact of infant mortality.
- To learn to question that which the student does not understand and to develop a format for finding the answers to those questions.
- To develop a life-long approach to learning and information acquisition which will aid the student in future problems.
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