| What Every Primary Care Provider Needs to Know |
After completing this course you should be more confident in your ability to:
- Explain why general healthcare practitioners should test and monitor for congenital hypothyroidism.
- Formulate a plan for the confirmatory retesting for congenital hypothyroidism.
- Prescribe and adjust treatment according to the American Academy of Pediatrics published guidelines (2006).
- Counsel and educate parents to address questions and concerns about congenital hypothyroidism and emphasize their responsibility in medication adherence.
- Interpret thyroid function tests.
- Distinguish which children warrant a trial off thyroid hormone replacement to determine if congenital hypothyroidism was transient.
- Monitor associated developmental challenges that affect children with congenital hypothyroidism.
- Utilize communication tools (such as parental handouts and patient family diaries) to improve patient outcomes and reduce health disparities due to socioeconomic determinants and language differences.