A paediatric clerking contains most of the elements of a clerking in any part of medicine, with a few specific elements added.
The authors would commend the following to students:
- firstly, get out there and clerk the patients. Spending time with patients and their parents is the only way to begin to get to grips with the breadth of normality and complexity of problems in paediatrics.
- if you are clerking someone, then do a proper, complete job. The temptation as a student is to leave part of the clerking because circumstances aren't ideal - the child is crying, the parents are stressed, etc. However, circumstances are never ideal, and the sooner you get the hang of working in poor conditions, the better.
- if you possibly can, leave your pen and paper behind. Mostly the people you are talking to - the parents - are well, and they can have a normal conversation with you. The only bit you need to take notes for is the family tree; the rest you can regard as a chat.
- don't stop after the examination. A clerking should also include a short summary or conclusion, a differential diagnosis and a plan for investigation and management. It is easy to argue that you don't know enough to come up with these, but you shouldn't be criticized for incomplete lists. It really is the only way to start to understand the underlying problems in a subject.