Paediatric Emergency Medicine Study Day

Why This Study Day Matters to Your Career

Try to imagine this scene: it is 8 o'clock, the handover in ED, and you have been allocated to paeds. To the majority of doctors, and those especially with limited experience in paediatrics, this very moment may evoke real anxiety. The paediatric ED may feel like unfamiliar ground where the stakes are impossibly high and your usual clinical confidence evaporates. But it doesn't have to be this way.

With knowledge and skill, the paediatric shifts can become an enjoyable and rewarding experience that actually enhances your confidence about working in ED in general. Every EM clinician must be able to manage a sick child — it's not optional in contemporary emergency medicine. Mastery of paediatric emergency care is crucial to your career progression, whether into emergency medicine, acute medicine, or general practice with emergency sessions.

At British Medical Courses, we have put together something quite different from the more 'traditional' paediatric emergency training. Our study day is developed by Paediatricians and ED Consultants with a special interest in Paeds EM and vast experience in managing paediatric problems in the emergency department. These are clinicians who understand both the clinical challenges and the emotional pressures of treating unwell children.

You will approach various real-life scenarios in acute paediatric settings with a whole new perspective — that of connecting theory to practice. This is not a course based on lectures; we believe in one-on-one learning, offering individually tailored plans that meet your particular anxieties and knowledge gaps. You will go forward in your medical careers and become the expert others turn to when there are acutely unwell children to assess in the ED and do so with confidence, not dread.

Who Will Benefit from This Study Day

This study day is designed for any professional in emergency medicine who comes across paediatric patients and wishes to turn anxiety into competence. You will benefit tremendously if you are an ED doctor who feels underprepared when allocated to the paediatric area, or if you are an emergency medicine trainee looking to build solid foundations in the assessment and management of paediatric patients.

This course will be particularly useful to junior doctors rotating through emergency departments with limited paediatric exposure, where there is a real need to gain practical experience and confidence. Experienced clinicians seeing primarily adults but needing to maintain paediatric competence will find this focused, scenario-based approach refreshing and reinforcing of key skills.

This will prove to be highly beneficial for general practitioners with emergency department sessions, urgent care practitioners, advanced clinical practitioners working in acute settings, and emergency nurses wishing to enhance their knowledge of paediatrics. If you've ever felt that moment of uncertainty when faced with a crying infant, a febrile toddler, or anxious parents demanding immediate answers, this course addresses exactly those challenges.

Whether you want to feel more confident during paediatric shifts, expand your clinical repertoire, or simply provide better care for the youngest and most vulnerable patients in your ED, this study day will transform your approach to paediatric emergencies.

What Knowledge and Skills You Will Gain

Master Paediatric Emergency Medicine: Confidently Manage Acutely Unwell Children

This intensive study day equips you with practical skills to confidently assess and manage common paediatric presentations in the Emergency Department. You'll transform paediatric shifts from daunting to manageable through structured learning and clinical wisdom from experienced paediatricians and ED consultants.

Foundation Skills

We start with essential fundamentals: age-appropriate vital signs and the Paediatric Early Warning Score (PEWS) to identify early deterioration. These core competencies underpin every paediatric assessment you'll perform.

Common Presentations

You'll master the bread-and-butter cases that fill paediatric EDs. Learn when to observe, image, or reassure parents after head injuries. Understand how to differentiate serious musculoskeletal pathology from minor trauma. Respiratory presentations receive major focus — you'll confidently assess wheezy children, distinguishing viral-induced wheeze from asthma exacerbations and bronchiolitis.

Fever management is comprehensively covered, teaching you when fever is benign versus when it signals serious bacterial infection requiring urgent intervention. Gastrointestinal complaints, particularly abdominal pain, are explored in depth. You'll identify surgical emergencies among viral gastroenteritis and functional pain, recognizing critical red flags. Febrile seizures will be demystified — learn to manage these frightening but usually benign events while identifying rare cases needing investigation.

Challenging Scenarios

We tackle difficult presentations like the unsettled baby, providing structured approaches to uncover serious pathology while addressing parental anxiety. Feeding problems, including failure to thrive and dehydration, are also covered.

Critical scenarios receive thorough attention. Learn structured approaches for acutely unwell children using WETFLAG (Weight estimation, Energy, Tube size, Fluids, Lorazepam, Adrenaline, Glucose) for rapid assessment and intervention. Paediatric trauma assessment is discussed, accounting for unique anatomical and physiological considerations.

Poisoning management in children is distinctly different — you'll recognize common ingestions and know when to observe, treat, or involve specialists. Safeguarding concerns are sensitively but thoroughly addressed, ensuring you recognize concerning patterns and understand referral pathways. The growing crisis of paediatric mental health emergencies is explored to prepare you for these increasingly common presentations.

Communication Excellence

Throughout the day, paediatric-specific communication skills are emphasized. Learn to manage parental anxiety effectively — often parents are more distressed than their children. You'll build rapport, provide appropriate reassurance, and communicate serious concerns clearly.

Beyond Protocols

This isn't about memorizing algorithms. You'll develop clinical judgment, communication skills, and situational confidence that only comes from experienced practitioners who've managed thousands of paediatric emergencies. This is practical wisdom no textbook can provide.