Drawing for Visual Communication in Medicine: A Novel Pilot Course for Senior Medical Students.

Objective: Visual aids such as drawings have been reported to improve patient comprehension, retention, and adherence. We sought to determine the feasibility of teaching live drawing for clinical communication to medical students.

Design: We designed a course to teach basic drawing skills and visual communication of health information to senior medical students.

Diagnosis and treatment of pediatric vallecular cysts and pseudocysts.

Objective: To review the experience at a children's hospital diagnosing and treating vallecular cysts.

Secondary Objectives: To determine if cyst type, operative mode, or ages are risk factor(s) for recurrence.

Methods: Chart review of eleven children with vallecular cysts and pseudocysts from 1997 to 2009.

Delayed facial paresis following tympanomastoid surgery in a pediatric patient.

Despite the presence of normal facial nerve function in the immediate postoperative period, patients may develop facial nerve dysfunction anywhere from several hours to several days after otologic surgery. This delayed facial paresis, following a broad range of otologic surgeries, has been well described in adults but not in pediatric patients. Viral reactivation is increasingly implicated as the underlying etiology of delayed facial paresis.