Otis Moss Jr. Medical Center

I didn't really know what to expect on my first day at Otis Moss Jr. Medical Center.  I was assigned to the pediatrics floor the first day, and was thrown right back in to a sea of immunization schedules and different assessment techniques that I had only previously used in my pediatrics rotation last spring.  The nurse I was working with quickly brought me up to speed on how the staff checked patients in, and explained the call-back process for kids with abnormal blood work.
At Otis Moss, blood work is drawn on all kids starting at age two.  Generally they are checked for iron and lead levels, cholesterol, and Vitamin D. When I first learned that this was protocol at the facility, I was surprised, because I can seldom recall having lab work performed on me as a child.  I soon learned that this was a necessary task, although frightening to most of the patients.
I realized that this was necessary because of the number of kids with high cholesterol levels.  Some of them were as young as eight years old, and had cholesterol levels that were as high as 190 mg/dL, which is far above the 'high' level of 170 mg/.  As I looked back to past years in their charts, it became apparent that this was a problem that started at an early age.  Throughout my first week, there were many parents who came in explaining that their family had switched to skim milk instead of whole in order to bring down one of their children's cholesterol levels.  This seemed like such a novel idea to the parents, but appeared to do wonders for their children's lab values and weight.  At every visit, a child's BMI is assessed, and it was exciting to see parents and children alike have their efforts of diet change pay off as their blood cholesterol levels decreased alongside their weight.
It is impressive how these test results can spark a change for an entire family.  I know that many of these families have more changes to make, but it is exciting to watch them reap the rewards of their efforts.  I am interested in seeing how the health of older adults is being impacted on the adult unit as well.
-Taylor Daiello