Dr. Dipesalema: Talks on care for babies
Senior Lecturer and Consultant Paediatrician/Paediatric Endocrinologist Dr Joel Dipesalema discusses paediatrics, a branch of medicine that deals with the care of children. What is your job and what does it entail? I am a specialist in Paediatric Endocrinology and I am also a medical lecturer at the University of Botswana. Paediatric Endocrinology is a specialty which deals with hormonal disorders in children and young adults. My daily work entails the provision of clinical services to hospitalised children as well as those who attend the outpatient clinic for consultation with hormonal problems. I also provide medical education to the doctors in training, both at the undergraduate and the post-graduate levels. What made you decide to become a pediatrician/paediatric endocrinologist? Paediatrics is an interesting specialty in the sense that as Paediatricians, we grow with our children. We see them going through childhood all the way until they become adults and contribute to the work force and the economy itself, that on its own is very emotionally rewarding when you see the fruits of your success, becoming the pillars of our society. Hence I chose Paediatrics/Paediatric Endocrinology as a way of giving back to our community by building a strong foundation through the children. Give them good health and they will in return give us a stable and prosperous future Botswana. Additionally, the study of Paediatrics/Paediatric Endocrinology requires a very good background in physiology, biochemistry, anatomy in addition to sociology and psychology. This helps service providers to better understand the physical, social and psychology aspects of care which may affect the wellbeing of the child; and those subjects were my favourite. What common conditions or problems do you help children with? As a Paediatric Endocrinologist, the most commonly encountered conditions in my patients are type 1 diabetes mellitus, stunted growth due growth hormone deficiency, overactive thyroid gland, underactive thyroid gland, childhood obesity, ambiguous genitalia(disorders of sex differentiation), adrenal insufficiency, diabetes insipidus, early puberty, delayed puberty, rickets, brittle bone disease, imbalance of the body salts and syndromic disorders. Majority of the cases admitted to the ward have respiratory and gastro-intestinal disorders. And the most common procedure you often have to undertake? As hormone specialists in children, the most common procedure we undertake is the hormonal stimulation test as way to make a diagnosis for hormonal deficiencies. For those children who are failing to grow, we carry out the clonidine or insulin stimulation test in order to diagnose the growth hormone deficiency. We also carry out the arterial blood gas sampling for our type 1 diabetes patients who get admitted with diabetic keto-acidosis. Other common procedures performed in Paediatrics include the lumbar puncture, blood culture, urine culture in order to exclude the infections which are quite common at this age group. We also do the radiological investigation like MRI of the brain for suspected pituitary deformities. Can you share the most satisfying case you have dealt with in recent years? The most satisfying case I have dealt with is that of a girl who was referred to me at the age of 16 years for failure to grow and attain her periods. She was the shortest girl in her class and she was the only one who has never attained her first period. I carried out specialised investigations and I made a diagnosis of “Multiple Pituitary Hormone Deficiency”. This is a condition where there is a deficiency of two (2) or more hormones from the anterior pituitary. My patient lacked growth hormone, which explained why she was very short. In addition, she lacked the sex hormones namely Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) and Leutenizing Hormone (LH) which explained why she did not get her periods. She also lacked internal body steroids and thyroid stimulating hormone. We started her on hormone replacement therapy and she managed to reach a full adult height and puberty. Her quality of life improved, she attended college and got her qualifications. That was emotionally rewarding to our team to take that journey with our patient and see her grow into an adult who eventually contributed to our work force. What advice would you give to someone looking for a Pediatric Endocrinologist for their child? Just to let them know that the paediatric sub-specialties are now available in Botswana, currently we have two Paediatric Endocrinologists based at our tertiary referral centre at Princess Marina Hospital/University of Botswana Faculty of Medicine. Not so long ago Batswana had to travel outside the country to access that service. We work by receiving referrals from the local general doctors or paediatricians. So I advise my fellow citizens that if they have concerns, their first point of contact is their local doctor who will recommend the appropriate specialist referral for their children. What are some of the challenges pediatricians face in their job in the country? - One of the biggest challenges for Paediatricians practicing in our set up is the resource limitations where one has to improvise in order to provide care for his/her patients. - Shortage of drugs and poor chain supply are one of the biggest hindrances to service delivery in Paediatrics. - Inadequate manpower to deal with some medical conditions which need specialised care; for instance, the country has no Paediatric Nephrologist. - No-specific presentation of some paediatric conditions may result in the misdiagnosis of some of the conditions which can compromise the welfare of the children. How do you see the role of paediatricians developing in the future? Paediatricians are essentially the cornerstone of our country’s health system as they look after the children and the children are the future of the country. Paediatricians are here to safe guard and reduce infant mortality rate and improve the overall wellbeing of the children so that they grow into responsible citizens of this country. So going into the future, the role of Paediatricians will be in demand.