By Audrey Prieto
[Angelo King Auditorium, SLCM] - The great mimicker made its mark once again in the annals of diagnostic conundrums
On Wednesday, December 10, 2014, St. Luke’s College of Medicine held a General Faculty-Student Assembly following two days of cancelled school due to Typhoon Ruby, featuring an interesting case of Childhood Extrapulmonary TB and a presentation on scientific writing.
Diagnosing Extrapulmonary TB in Pediatric Patients
Intern Mary Elaine Diaz of the Department of Pediatrics presented an account of a case of Extrapulmonary TB from the OPD, featuring the case of a 13 y/o boy whose chief complaint was a four-month history of enlarging abdominal globular distention.
Its discussion included causes abdominal distention, classical signs of fluid retention, and the causes of ascites, as well as diagnostic procedures and management.
From these, it was concluded that a diagnosis of TB in children could be difficult due to their non-specific signs and symptoms and difficulty in obtaining clinical specimen for diagnosis, but that a presumptive diagnosis may be made using the Philippine Pediatric Society (PPS) Consensus Criteria for Diagnosis of TB.
Despite of the difficulty of the case, multiple doctors labeled her presentation as a ‘thorough, comprehensive discussion' and is worthy of praise.
Among these, Dean Carandang also commended the detailed discussion, but questioned why a biopsy was not taken to attain a histologically positive TB test for the diagnosis.
Radiologist Dr. Bernard F. Laya commented that he had “never heard a better talk about tuberculosis”, but that the images of the CT scan clearly had “tuberculosis all over the place”.
Lastly, the reactor, Dr. Emmy Luna, suggested pointers like testing for a smear chromatography and TB screening the child’s family.
On Writing
The next lecturer, Dr. Jonas Francisco Santiago, M.D., Chair of Nuclear Medicine in St. Luke’s Global City, recently authored his first book, Positron Emission Tomography with Computed Tomography (PET/CT).
Throughout his presentation titled, ‘Scientific Book Writing in the Age of the Internet’, Dr. Santiago emphasized passion to share ideas or findings as the primary motivation for scientific writing and remarked that if a student has this drive then writing skills should not be a limitation because writers can be hired to express ideas more gracefully while still receiving credit.
Dr. Santiago introduced concepts such as when to consider co-authors, how to cite properly, and what to expect when using a publisher.
Although Dr. Santiago spent ten years collecting materials, forming ideas, and drafting his book, Dean Carandang urged students to produce writings as soon as now.
Dean Carandang noted that the Philippines was not yet a country attuned to writing, although the talent and ideas are there, and added that scientific writings do not need to be dull, as long as they sends the message intended.
The talk was also graced by the presence of eminent Neurologist Dr. Joven Cuanang, who shared his knowledge about the possible anthropological roots of the Filipino's aversion to writing. "But we have to produce now", citing the need for Filipino medical students to share what he calls as a Germanic tradition.
Dr. De Ramos then concluded the event with the following announcements:
· Full papers for the new Interesting Case Contest are due January 12, 2015 with a presentation to follow on January 21, 2015.
· On January 14, 2015, there will be two more OB/GYN clerk and intern cases.
· February 4, 2015 will be the next general faculty-student assembly.
· On February 7, 2015, there will be an ENT case presented by a clerk and intern.
· On December 14, 2014, MedGroove MedRhythmia 2014 will be held in The Aliw Theater.
· December 19, 2014 is the last day of school. All faculty and students are invited to attend SLCMs Christmas party, Mediscene at Light of Love Event’s Place. School will resume on January 5, 2015.
[Angelo King Auditorium, SLCM] - The great mimicker made its mark once again in the annals of diagnostic conundrums
On Wednesday, December 10, 2014, St. Luke’s College of Medicine held a General Faculty-Student Assembly following two days of cancelled school due to Typhoon Ruby, featuring an interesting case of Childhood Extrapulmonary TB and a presentation on scientific writing.
Diagnosing Extrapulmonary TB in Pediatric Patients
Intern Mary Elaine Diaz of the Department of Pediatrics presented an account of a case of Extrapulmonary TB from the OPD, featuring the case of a 13 y/o boy whose chief complaint was a four-month history of enlarging abdominal globular distention.
Its discussion included causes abdominal distention, classical signs of fluid retention, and the causes of ascites, as well as diagnostic procedures and management.
From these, it was concluded that a diagnosis of TB in children could be difficult due to their non-specific signs and symptoms and difficulty in obtaining clinical specimen for diagnosis, but that a presumptive diagnosis may be made using the Philippine Pediatric Society (PPS) Consensus Criteria for Diagnosis of TB.
Despite of the difficulty of the case, multiple doctors labeled her presentation as a ‘thorough, comprehensive discussion' and is worthy of praise.
Among these, Dean Carandang also commended the detailed discussion, but questioned why a biopsy was not taken to attain a histologically positive TB test for the diagnosis.
Radiologist Dr. Bernard F. Laya commented that he had “never heard a better talk about tuberculosis”, but that the images of the CT scan clearly had “tuberculosis all over the place”.
Lastly, the reactor, Dr. Emmy Luna, suggested pointers like testing for a smear chromatography and TB screening the child’s family.
On Writing
The next lecturer, Dr. Jonas Francisco Santiago, M.D., Chair of Nuclear Medicine in St. Luke’s Global City, recently authored his first book, Positron Emission Tomography with Computed Tomography (PET/CT).
Throughout his presentation titled, ‘Scientific Book Writing in the Age of the Internet’, Dr. Santiago emphasized passion to share ideas or findings as the primary motivation for scientific writing and remarked that if a student has this drive then writing skills should not be a limitation because writers can be hired to express ideas more gracefully while still receiving credit.
Dr. Santiago introduced concepts such as when to consider co-authors, how to cite properly, and what to expect when using a publisher.
Although Dr. Santiago spent ten years collecting materials, forming ideas, and drafting his book, Dean Carandang urged students to produce writings as soon as now.
Dean Carandang noted that the Philippines was not yet a country attuned to writing, although the talent and ideas are there, and added that scientific writings do not need to be dull, as long as they sends the message intended.
The talk was also graced by the presence of eminent Neurologist Dr. Joven Cuanang, who shared his knowledge about the possible anthropological roots of the Filipino's aversion to writing. "But we have to produce now", citing the need for Filipino medical students to share what he calls as a Germanic tradition.
Dr. De Ramos then concluded the event with the following announcements:
· Full papers for the new Interesting Case Contest are due January 12, 2015 with a presentation to follow on January 21, 2015.
· On January 14, 2015, there will be two more OB/GYN clerk and intern cases.
· February 4, 2015 will be the next general faculty-student assembly.
· On February 7, 2015, there will be an ENT case presented by a clerk and intern.
· On December 14, 2014, MedGroove MedRhythmia 2014 will be held in The Aliw Theater.
· December 19, 2014 is the last day of school. All faculty and students are invited to attend SLCMs Christmas party, Mediscene at Light of Love Event’s Place. School will resume on January 5, 2015.