Pediatric skin diseases in primary care: Diagnostic dilemmas a primary physician may face

Dermatology is an area that appears at the top of general practitioners (GPs)’ educational needs. Our curriculum in undergraduate classes is inadequate to equip us for the real clinical scenarios. Pediatric skin conditions pose a special dilemma to primary care practitioners. On the one hand, dermatologic problems are so common in childhood that the primary care physician is forced to become involved with many of them. On the other hand, the scope of dermatologic conditions found in children is so broad as to be beyond the skills of most primary care physicians. The secret to managing dermatologic problems in children within a primary care setting is to recognize that a relatively small group of conditions encompass the vast majority of reasons for which a primary care physician will be consulted. By recognizing those conditions and becoming expert in the treatment of these well-defined areas, the primary care physician can manage these better. Diagnosing pediatric skin conditions and recognizing the importance of early referral of the cases that fall outside one's expertise is an important measure of the primary care physician's competence as seen by patients and their families. In this article, I would like to highlight few pediatric dermatological cases that came to our family medicine clinic, where correct diagnosis and treatment led to good outcomes.