pediatric housecalls Robert R. Jarrett M.D. M.B.A. FAAP

Hello, and welcome to Pediatric House Calls. I am…
A Physician board certified in Pediatric medicine with Clinical experience including caring for infants, children and teens – well these days mostly children and teens up to twenty-one;
An Administrator experienced in top medical management for several national health insurance companies;
An Author of health care manuals, newspaper columns and even children's stories;
A Business Medical Consultant for drug companies, insurance companies and physician practices;
A Veteran of the US Navy in the Vietnam era;
And…
I make House-Calls.

Parenting: Discipline

“Discipline,” that’s a 200-pound-gorilla-in-the-room topic if I ever heard one!

These days the so-called “do-gooders,” “haters” and “conspiracy theorists” all over the internet have made poor parents fear even the word “discipline”… let alone actually giving it to their child. But “discipline” is different than “punishment” you know.
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Watson, Crick, DNA, Nobel Prize

The “discovery” of how DNA is constructed is a complicated story best told elsewhere; but, the two men who concluded just how it is done are number 34 in our list of the 50 most influential doctors in history: Francis Crick and James Watson—except neither of them are medical doctors; so perhaps, shouldn’t be included in this particular list at all.
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Raj Panjabi: No one should die because they live too far from a doctor

Everyone gets sick in the world; but, even in 2017, VAST numbers of people have no hope of care. A BILLION people lack access simply because they live so far from a clinic it’s impossible to get there even IF they had transportation to do so. Then there’s war—like in Liberia which has now left only 51 doctors for the entire country of 4 million people!

This TED video is about what one physician, Raj Panjabi, is actually doing about it; and a practical answer for other countries to follow.

See the video…

New Concussion Biomarker Possible For Children’s Head Injuries

We’ve all heard of the tumult going on over head injuries, concussions, traumatic brain damage, the NFL; but, there is little specific information helping parents about their children and sports.

I’m told that during the war the brits had difficulty accepting that their wounded “chaps” with belly wounds shouldn’t be given tea to drink (it causes peritonitis) because doing so was such a national “tradition”—such is American football!
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The Charles Bonnett Syndrome: An Under-reported Phenomenon

Oliver SacksCharles Bonnet Sydrome In The Visually Impaired

Neurologist and author Oliver Sacks brings our attention to the Charles Bonnett Syndrome — when visually impaired people experience lucid hallucinations. He describes the experiences of his patients in heartwarming detail and walks us through the biology of this under-reported phenomenon.

See the video…

Thanksgiving Dinner: Then vs Now!

It was over TWO HUNDRED years after it was first “eaten” (the dinner) before Thanksgiving (the holiday) became “officialized” in the United States.

Every pre-school child knows about the Pilgrims eating their first harvest meal with the Wampanoag Indians. They might not know the dinner was in 1621 and that Abraham Lincoln made it a national holiday in 1863; but, they do know about gratitude and being grateful—or at least I hope they do.
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Mahmut Gazi Yaşargil: Micro-Surgery, Neurologic Pioneer

We’re at number 35 in our countdown of the top 50 most influential doctors in history and have come to a physician born in a cave, at gunpoint, in Eastern Turkey where his parents were being held by revolutionary/outlaws determined to challenge the new Turkish government in Ankara.

Born “baby” Yaşargil on July 6, 1925 he went on to become Neurosurgery’s Man of the Century (1950–1999) for his revolutionary achievements and advancements in micro-surgery; but… we get ahead of ourselves.
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