A Systematic Review of the Relationship Between In-Training Examination Scores and Specialty Board Examination Scores.

Background: In-training examinations (ITEs) are intended for low-stakes, formative assessment of residents' knowledge, but are increasingly used for high-stake purposes, such as to predict board examination failures.

Objective: The aim of this review was to investigate the relationship between performance on ITEs and board examination performance across medical specialties.

Methods: A search of the literature for studies assessing the strength of the relationship between ITE and board examination performance from January 2000 to March 2019 was completed.

Always ready, always prepared-preparing for the next pandemic.

A future global pandemic is likely to occur and planning for the care of critically ill children is less robust than that for adults. This review covers the current state of federal and regional resources for pediatric care in pandemics, a strategy for pandemic preparation in pediatric intensive care units and regions focusing on stuff, space, staff and systems, considerations in developing surge capacity and triage protocols, special circumstances such as highly infectious and highly lethal pandemics, and a discussion of ethics in the setting of pediatric critical care in a pandemic.

Use of High-Frequency Ventilation in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

 To evaluate the clinical characteristics, ventilator settings, and gas exchange indices of patients placed on high-frequency percussive ventilation (HFPV) and high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV).  Retrospective observation of all consecutive patients aged 0 to 18 years with acute respiratory failure managed with high-frequency ventilation from the institution's introduction of HFPV on May 1, 2012, until July 10, 2013.  Twenty-seven patients underwent HFPV as a first mode of high-frequency ventilation and 16 patients underwent HFOV first.

Practice Patterns in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine: Results of a Workforce Survey.

Objective: To obtain current data on practice patterns of the U.S. pediatric critical care medicine workforce.

Risk factors for poor outcomes and therapeutic strategies for seasonal and pandemic influenza.

Seasonal influenza is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide annually while pandemic influenza, a unique entity, poses distinct challenges. The pediatric population is the primary vector for epidemics and the main focus of this article. While primary prevention with universal influenza vaccination is the best protection against significant illness, the antigenic shift and drift unique to influenza viruses leave a large population at risk even with universal vaccination.