Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for Children With Inborn Errors of Immunity.

This is a retrospective analysis of clinical characteristics of children with inborn errors of immunity who underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). Although the mean age at diagnosis was 24.4 months, it was 51.9 months at HSCT. There is an urgent need to improve awareness, expand donor registries and initiate newborn screening for inborn errors or immunity.

Effectiveness of communication skills training on perceptions and practice of pediatric residents.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of a structured communication skills training workshop on the perceptions and practice of pediatric residents. METHODS: The perceptions and practice of pediatric residents with regard to doctor- patient (parent) communication were evaluated before and 6 weeks after a communication skills training workshop, using a structured questionnaire. RESULTS: Twenty pediatric residents participated in the study. They included nine residents who had completed 1 year of pediatric training and 11 residents who had completed 2 years or more of pediatric training. 9 were female residents and 11 were males. Before the intervention, majority of the residents rated themselves poorly on assessment of their perceptions and practice of communication skills. After the workshop there was overall improvement in the communication skills of the residents. CONCLUSIONS: Communication skills of pediatric residents are generally inadequate. Structured training programs will help to improve their communication skills. There is a need to incorporate communication skills training in the pediatric postgraduate curriculum.