Radio Resource

We had the chance earlier today to participate in a Satellite Radio broadcast on Doctor Radio, a project of NYU Langone Medical Center that brings NYU physicians and their expert medical guests from around the country and the world together to provide information and answer questions from listeners. Available on Sirius Channel 114 and XM Channel 119, Doctor Radio is broadcast live from a studio in the lobby of the Medical Center.

The hour-long appearance of Dr. Paul Yellin and Susan Yellin, Esq. focused on learning difficulties and school advocacy and featured caller inquiries from places ranging from Utah, to North Carolina, to Connecticut and New Jersey. It was hosted by Dr. Benard Dreyer, who is the Director of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at the Medical Center and a Professor at the NYU School of Medicine. A look at the line-up of other shows on Doctor Radio reads like a list of medical specialites, and includes daily shows focusing on pediatric issues, as well as issues such as children's mental health, sports medicine, and a wide arrange of medical topics of interest to parents and families. In addition to sharing information, the doctor hosts and their knowledgable guests take the time to address the specific questions of their callers.

If you already subscribe to Satellite Radio you might want to give Doctor Radio a try. If you aren't a subscriber, you can check out the schedule of shows and sign up for a free trial of Sirius or XM to let you hear a show dealing with the specific concerns you may have. It certainly does not take the place of your pediatrician or other physician, but it can be a helpful source of information and point you in the right direction.

Learning Strategies for High Achieving Students

The Master Scholars Career Advising Program at the New York University School of Medicine and Dr. Lynn Buckvar-Keltz, the school's Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, hosted the annual presentation of Dr. Paul Yellin to the medical school student body last evening. Dr. Yellin's presentation, Strategies for Success in Medical School: The Impact of Normal Variations in Learning Profiles on Academic Performance in Medical Students, is part of his ongoing work with the the Dean of Academic Affairs and with individual medical students from NYU and other medical schools. Dr. Yellin also works with physicians who have completed medical school as well as young professionals in law and other fields.

Why would these students or recent graduates in highly demanding fields, who have been able to be admitted to competitive training programs, need the services of a physician who focuses his work on learning and school success? And why would a large number of first year students at the NYU Medical School take time away from their studies or leisure to attend Dr. Yellin's talk last night?

The answer, according to Dr. Yellin, is that it is not unusual for anyone to hit "bumps in the road" when entering a new phase of one's education or career. Some academically successful students first have difficulty late in their academic careers, when they find that the strategies they used in college are inadequate to permit them to succeed in professional programs, such as medical school. Tragically, some people who experience these setbacks prematurely abandon their chosen path because they assume that their struggles mean that they are "not cut out" for the path that they have chosen.

Dr. Yellin notes that once these struggling students or young professionals understand how they learn and how to use their cognitive and personal strengths to get past their areas of relative weakness, it is usually possible for them to bounce back and succeed. He adds that he has been consulting with NYU Medical School for almost ten years and that it has been enormously satisfying to see how the students with whom he has worked have been able to improve their performance and move ahead in their careers.

Health Literacy

Our good friend, Dr. Benard Dreyer, Co-chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Health Literacy Project Advisory Committee, and Professor of Pediatrics at NYU Langone Medical Center, speaks about the challenges of communicating information to parents and children in an article in the November, 2009 issue of the AAP News.

The article explains that health literacy is "the ability of patients and parents to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate decisions." It points out that sometimes pediatricians think that parents really understand what they are being told, when the truth turns out to be that the parents did not have a good understanding of diagnosis, instructions, or treatments.

Dr. Dreyer is the editor of a supplement to the current issue of Pediatrics that presents extensive information on the issues surrounding health literacy throughout the country.

An important question in the area of health literacy is how to share information with young patients. The kind of information shared with an eight year old would not be the same as that given to a teenager. The way in which information is shared is also important. Young patients, Dr. Dreyer recommends, should be able to "teach back" what they are told. And their parents should be able to explain their child's main problem and what they need to do about it and why. This will demonstrate that they truly understand what their pediatrician has wanted to share with them.

We deal with the issue of effective communications all the time here at the Yellin Center. Students who complete our full assessment process join with their parents in a "demystification" at the end of the assesment day, where the preliminary findings of our team and initial learning strategies are explained in a manner designed to make sure they are understood by both parents and students. We have been delighted to hear of young children who have gone home after this demystification and shared the document we created especially for them with their teachers, and even their friends, to explain how they learn.

A Favorite Author

Every so often we plan to share a favorite author or book that can be helpful to parents or to students who are struggling in school. Sometimes we'll focus on a single book, other times on an author whose work is more wide-ranging or on a category of books. Happy reading!

Today we want to share one of our favorite writers -- Perri Klass, M.D. who is a Professor of both Pediatrics and Journalism at New York University. Dr. Klass has written books and articles on subjects ranging from Quirky Kids to knitting. Her columns for the New York Times Health Section are always worth reading. As a pediatrician, a mother, a daughter, and an avid knitter, she brings a wealth of knowledge and a strong dose of common sense to her writing.

Whether she is calming anxious parents or sharing her own experiences, we think you'll enjoy Dr. Klass' work.