Professor Jonas F Ludvigsson will give the opening lecture of the National Pediatric Week 2019

Jonas F Ludvigsson, professor and pediatrician, will give the opening lecture during the National Pediatric Week beginning April 1, 2019. His lecture is entitled ”The very sick child in Sweden”. Here he answers some questions about the National National Pediatric Week and about his lecture.

The National Pediatric Week [Swedish: barnveckan] is a meeting about child health attended by roughly 1000 paediatricians and pediatric nurses. For four days all pediatric subspecialties gather to discuss issues such as pediatric nephrology, acute pediatric liver disease, pediatric surgery, intestinal failure in children, metabolic disease, and palliation to terminally ill children. The meeting is also an occasion to meet for pediatric researchers, heads of departments and others interested in child health care.

Why will you give the opening lecture?

- I was the President of the Swedish Society of Pediatrics for two years, 2014-16, and have always been engaged in very sick children. I work clinically three days a week, and a substantial amount of that time is spent in the emergency department. In addition, I am one of three editors for the Swedish textbook in emergency pediatrics.

What will you talk about?

- My talk will have three themes: I) mistakes I have made as a pediatrician; II) children that I have taken care of but who have died; and III) updates in pediatrics. I will go back to some of the kids I have met during my 20 years as a pediatrician and discuss children who died from sepsis, liver failure, child abuse and drowning - and if there were things we could have done differently.

What advice would you give a young physician seeing a child with a life-threatening disorder?

- Always call a senior colleague, and an anaesthesiologist. Always listen to what the parents have to say - sometimes they have important clues as to what needs to be done.