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Textbook Essential Learning For The Internal Medicine Clerkship 1St Edition Conrad Fischer Ebook All Chapter PDF
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TOP SH ELF
Essential Learning
for the Internal
Medicine Clerkship
Notice
Medicine is an ever-changing science. As new research and clinical experience broaden our knowledge, changes
in treatment and drug therapy are required. he authors and the publisher o this work have checked with sources
believed to be reliable in their e orts to provide in ormation that is complete and generally in accord with the
standard accepted at the time o publication. However, in view o the possibility o human error or changes in
medical sciences, neither the editors nor the publisher nor any other party who has been involved in the prepa-
ration or publication o this work warrants that the in ormation contained herein is in every respect accurate or
complete, and they disclaim all responsibility or any errors or omissions or or the results obtained rom use o
the in ormation contained in this work. Readers are encouraged to con irm the in ormation contained herein
with other sources. For example and in particular, readers are advised to check the product in ormation sheet
included in the package o each drug they plan to administer to be certain that the in ormation contained in this
work is accurate and that changes have not been made in the recommended dose or in the contraindications or
administration. his recommendation is o particular importance in connection with new or in requently used
drugs.
TOP SH ELF
Essential Learning
for the Internal
Medicine Clerkship
Conrad Fische r, MD
New York Chicago San Francisco Athens London Madrid Mexico City
Milan New Delhi Singapore Sydney Toronto
Copyright © 2017 by McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright
Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database
or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
ISBN: 978-1-25-964477-1
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Ab o u t t he Au t h o r
v
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t Ab l e o f Co n t e n t s
vii
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how to u se t h is book
It is my sincere hope that I have created a unique and use ul book to prepare
you or your shel examination or or greater depth o study in internal med-
icine. Initially, the volume o in ormation you must absorb will seem over-
whelming. All I can tell you or sure is:
• While the knowledge you must eventually acquire seems in nite, it isn’t.
• T e amount you need or this standardized test is certainly nite.
T e ormat this book ollows is the pattern o the most requently asked
questions on the exam:
In addition, we will show you the most likely results o EKGs, x-rays, and C
and MRI scans to be ound on the test.
Studying a lot can eel hard and pain ul. It is an e ort. I will share with you,
then, the solvent or pain ul e orts in the area o medicine.
ix
To p S h e l f : Es s e n t i a l Le a r n i n g f o r t h e In t e r n a l Me d i c i n e Cl e r k s h i p
I you study a small number o subjects repetitively, it will provide more depth
and you will develop a greater sense o satis action. It may eel slower, but it is
more ocused and you become more con dent.
Ah yes! For those with limited attention, it is better to study the things you like
really well than to be super cial over every subject. I mysel studied this way.
Only later did I ully learn the other subjects.
Your “Calling”
I have spent 30 years in the classroom. I taught my rst class, physiology, by
accident as a 19-year-old college junior. I spent another year teaching physics
to college students. I was never sick and I had no sick relatives. How, then, did
I know to go to medical school? Because it is a calling. A calling means you try
to grasp where your great passion and the world’s great need meet.
As a physician, you are di erent rom the other healthcare providers. No other
branch o caregivers needed a law to limit them to 80 hours a week o work.
Anyone can do a job i it is easy. T e reason we are “pro essional” is that we get
the job done. We are done when the job is done. We are not done when our
shi is done. We are done when people are taken care o , not when the clock
hits a certain hour. I was on rounds today, a Saturday morning on a 3-day
holiday weekend. T e resident had been up all night and was tired and hungry.
He wanted to stop and to leave. But he did not. He took care o patients. He
started to develop a nose bleed and had to sit down, and continued to present
patients and do the right thing, despite bleeding.
We do not seek su ering or ourselves. We do not create pain or make the pro-
cess needlessly dif cult. When pain comes in the process o our mission, our
goal, our duty, however, we do not avoid it. T is is the process o our training
that makes us, as physicians, better than the other pro essions.
x
Ho w t o Us e Th i s Bo o k
T e answer is: You need to study or the Shel to supplement your experience
because there are just too many unusual diseases you will not see or a long
time. T e good news is: T ere are many, many things you will study just or
Shel that you will later diagnose and recognize simply because you learned
them or a test.
Fa ir ness
Is the test air?
ABSOLU ELY!
No one designing the Shel exam is trying to ool you or make you ail. T ere is
a rigorous intellectual honesty to the test. Your e orts are not lost. I you ollow
the blueprint or the exam, all you need is honest study and rigorous e ort or
a short period o time. And you will succeed.
xi
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P r e f ACe
Top Shelf: Essential Learning for the Internal Medicine Clerkship is not a
textbook—it is a review book: a review o the in ormation that you need to
know or this exam.
For those who are seeking a multimedia approach to issues covered in this
text, I have developed a video course available at http://www.medquestreviews.
com/store/top-shel -internal-medicine that can be purchased separately.
xiii
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Ge n e r a l I n t e r n a l 1
Me d Ic In e
In t r o d u c t Io n
General internal medicine, which includes all screening, is one o the most
highly tested areas o the boards. Although this chapter is brie , nearly every What screening tests lower
mortality? Mammography,
act is eligible to be tested. T e Shel examination is meant to test the basic PAP smears, and
competence o the general internist. As such, the level o oncology tested, colonoscopy.
or example, always includes the current screening recommendations or cancer,
whereas speci c types o chemotherapy or a disease such as multiple
myeloma may not be tested at all. You do not need to go to medical school
to know that screening tests detect cancer, but you do have to go to medical
school to know which ones will lower mortality.
TIP
Do not walk into the exam without knowing the most current screening
recommendations.
1
To p S h e l f : Es s e n t i a l Le a r n i n g f o r t h e In t e r n a l Me d i c i n e Cl e r k s h i p
T is book will not engage in lengthy pro and con discussions; rather, it will give
direct recommendations on what you should answer i the question comes up.
Although the exam includes a number o challenging and complicated sub-
jects, this book’s purpose is to give you an answer with the minimum number
o acts to memorize. T is does not mean this book is super cial or incomplete;
it simply means it will jump to the bottom-line answer.
For example:
Answer: The correct answer is (e). This statement is correct. The question is intelligently
put because it sidesteps the issue o whether you should be doing the test in avor o a
statement that everyone can agree upon. Another correct statement could have been: “I
a man ully understanding the risks and bene ts o PSA testing is requesting the test, then
the test should be per ormed.”
2
Ch a p t e r 1 : G e n e r a l In t e r n a l Me d i c i n e
Which o the ollowing is most likely to bene t a patient with breast cancer?
a. Screening with ultrasound
b. Screening with MRI
c. Tamoxi en in those with 2 rst-degree relatives with breast cancer
d. Soy diet
e. Exercise
. Low- at diet
g. BRCA testing
Answer: The correct answer is (c). Estrogen inhibition is an underutilized therapy to pre-
vent breast cancer. Tamoxi en and raloxi ene are not routinely recommended in those
with an average risk o cancer, but having relatives with breast cancer markedly increases
the risk o cancer. Ultrasound helps distinguish cystic rom solid lesions, particularly in
younger women. MRI as a screening method is not yet o clear value. Although soy diets
and exercise may have some bene t, it is not nearly as clear as that o antiestrogen
therapy. In women with a strong amily history suggestive o a mutation, BRCA testing
will detect an increased risk o breast and other cancers, such as ovarian. However, it is
not clear what the right therapeutic intervention in those with a positive test is.
BRCA Testing
BRCA is associated with an increased risk o cancer, especially with a amily
history o cancer. It is not enough just to
detect an increased risk o
• T e intervention or a positive test is not clear. cancer. To intervene, you
must detect an increased
• Prophylactic mastectomy (and oophorectomy) or a positive test is not risk o cancer that you can
clearly recommended or all who test positive. do something about.
• T ere is no clear mortality benef t to routine BRCA testing.
• BRCA is associated with an increased risk o ovarian cancer, in addition to
numerous other cancers, such as prostate and pancreas.
3
To p S h e l f : Es s e n t i a l Le a r n i n g f o r t h e In t e r n a l Me d i c i n e Cl e r k s h i p
TIP
Shel questions have to be clear. The shel exam will not provide a scenario
in which the patient’s age is equivocal or unclear.
Colon Cancer
• Screening or colon cancer should begin by age 50.
• Colonoscopy is superior to all other modalities.
• Colonoscopy is per ormed every 10 years in the average risk population.
• Virtual (or C ) colonoscopy is never the right answer.
• Barium enema, ecal occult blood testing, and sigmoidoscopy are in erior to
colonoscopy.
Cervical Cancer
• Pap smears start at age 21, irrespective o the age o onset o sexual
Chlamydia screening is activity.
routine or all sexually
active women. • No screening is necessary or those above age 65.
• T ere is no need or Pap smear in those who have had a hysterectomy.
• Pap every 3 years or every 5 years combined with HPV testing.
4
Ch a p t e r 1 : G e n e r a l In t e r n a l Me d i c i n e
Answer: The correct answer is (c). The changes in screening recommendations have not
changed the answer to the most requently asked cancer screening question. The mam-
mogram has always been the most bene cial o all the cancer screening methods, and
women above the age o 50 have always been the group that bene ts the most rom
screening. Three cancer screening methods lower mortality: Pap, mammography, and
colonoscopy. Mammography is simply the best o these. This is an example o a question
that sidesteps controversy, since breast cancer kills more people than both cervical and
colon cancer. Annual screening chest x-rays have never been ound to be bene cial in any
group, including smokers.
5
To p S h e l f : Es s e n t i a l Le a r n i n g f o r t h e In t e r n a l Me d i c i n e Cl e r k s h i p
Hyperlipidemia
• Screen men above age 35 every 5 years.
• Screen women above age 45 every 5 years.
• Screen persons above 20 years o age who have additional cardiovascular
risk actors (H N, DM).
Osteoporosis
Screening
• Screen women above age 65 (or above 60 with risk actors such as chronic
Hip racture in an elderly steroid use or weight less than 70 kg) with bone densitometry (DEXA scanning).
woman is atal ar more
o ten than a myocardial • A -score 1 to 2.5 standard deviations below normal is osteopenia.
in arction. • A -score more than 2.5 standard deviations below normal is osteoporosis.
• Screen every 2 years.
• T e -score is a measure o a woman’s bone density as compared to that o
a healthy young woman.
Treatment
1. Vitamin D and calcium supplementation are routinely indicated in all
patients with either osteopenia or osteoporosis.
2. Bisphosphonates (alendronate, risendronate, ibandronate, zolendronic
acid): T ese medications will reduce the likelihood o hip and vertebral
racture by 50% in those with decreased bone density. Adverse e ects are:
• Osteonecrosis o the jaw
• Esophagitis i not taken with adequate uid intake
6
Ch a p t e r 1 : G e n e r a l In t e r n a l Me d i c i n e
IMMu n Izat Io n S
Hepatitis A and B Vaccines
Although hepatitis A and B vaccinations have both been added to the routine
vaccinations in childhood, adults should be vaccinated in the ollowing Hepatitis vaccine is o
greatest bene t to patients
circumstances: with chronic liver disease.
7
To p S h e l f : Es s e n t i a l Le a r n i n g f o r t h e In t e r n a l Me d i c i n e Cl e r k s h i p
Pneumococcal Vaccine
T is vaccine is indicated in those above age 65. Generally healthy individuals
HIV testing should be require only a single vaccination at age 65. A second vaccine is given to those
universal, not based on risk
actors. whose rst injection was be ore age 65 and in those with underlying illness such as:
• obacco smoking
• Patients with chronic disease o the heart (CHF), lung (COPD and asthma),
or kidney
• Diabetic patients
• Immunosuppressed patients such as those with hematologic malignancy,
users o glucocorticoids, or patients with HIV/AIDS
I the patient got the 23 polyvalent at age 65 or earlier in li e, then the PCV13
should be given a year a er the rst injection. T e bottom line is that everyone
needs to get both injections.
Never vaccinated? Give the PCV13 rst, and the 23 a year later. Vaccinated
with the 23 already? Give the PCV13 at least a year a er the rst shot.
Meningococcal Vaccine
Although this vaccine has now been added to the routine age 11 visit, adults
should be vaccinated i they are:
8
Ch a p t e r 1 : G e n e r a l In t e r n a l Me d i c i n e
Varicella Vaccine
Shingles or the reactivation o varicella, also called herpes zoster, is extremely
common in elderly patients, a ecting as many as 5% o patients above age 60.
Varicella vaccine is a version o the vaccine given in children, but at higher
dose. T is is indicated in all individuals at the age o 60. Contraindica-
tions are the use o steroids and AIDS with less than 200 CD4 cells/µL, preg-
nancy, or any immunosuppression (AIDS, malignancy, immunosuppressant
medications).
l o w b a ck p a In
Low back pain is so common as to be considered an expected nding in the
general population. T e most requently tested point is about in which patients
x-rays are use ul. T e vast majority o individuals are not su ering rom cord
compression or spinal stenosis. Hence, unless there are additional severe nd-
ings described in the case, the most likely answer is:
• No x-rays
• No bed rest
• Yes to moderate exercise and stretching such as yoga
TIP
Unless there are ocal neurological indings, vertebral tenderness,
incontinence, or a sensory level de cit, do not per orm imaging studies o the
spine.
Fever + cord compression = epidural abscess
9
To p S h e l f : Es s e n t i a l Le a r n i n g f o r t h e In t e r n a l Me d i c i n e Cl e r k s h i p
Tetanus/Acellular Pertussis
A booster o tetanus toxoid is given every ten years. etanus toxoid acellular
pertussus ( dap) is the pre erred orm. I the wound is soiled or “dirty,” the
Expect Tdap questions! interval is 5 years. Give a booster in the orm o dap.
10
Al l e r g y An d 2
immu n o l o g y
An Aph yl Axis
In anaphylaxis, the causative agent is not as important as the response o the
host. Anaphylaxis is de ned as:
• Hypotension
• achycardia
• Respiratory distress
Epinephrine
Epinephrine will work the most rapidly and will restore central per usion
pressure. In addition, epinephrine will reverse bronchospasm and laryngospasm.
11
To p S h e l f : Es s e n t i a l Le a r n i n g f o r t h e In t e r n a l Me d i c i n e Cl e r k s h i p
When anaphylaxis occurs, especially with hypotension and any orm o respir-
Epinephrine sel -injection atory distress, there are no contraindications to the use o epinephrine. Steroids
(epi-pen) is given when
repeat anaphylaxis may will take 4 to 6 hours to work, whereas epinephrine will work instantly. Anti-
occur. histamines do not have the same decrease o e cacy as steroids or epinephrine.
When an insect sting may recur a er anaphylaxis, the best initial management
is desensitization and epi-pen.
TIP
Epinephrine is used as a 1:1,000 solution intramuscularly in anaphylaxis. It is
used as a 1:10,000 solution intravenously or cardiac resuscitation.
u r t ic Ar iA An d An g io ed emA
Def nition/Presentation/Etiology
Urticaria is de ned as eruptions o itchy, red wheals or hives with sharp
borders, commonly af ecting the trunk and extremities but sparing palms and
soles.
Acute urticaria may be caused by bugs (insect bites), drugs (e.g., penicillin),
Urticaria can be caused by or oods, but requently there is no known cause. Chronic urticaria is caused
in ection.
by pressure, cold, and vibration. Chronic urticaria is de ned as lasting longer
than 6 weeks. Nearly hal o those with chronic urticaria never have a speci c
etiology identi ed.
Diagnostic Tests
Acute urticaria is a clinical diagnosis and needs no diagnostic testing, and
Icatibant is a bradykinin there should be no delay in administering treatment. Chronic urticaria is
antagonist used or
hereditary angioedema. best managed by trying to identi y and eliminate the trigger. A CBC is done
to look or eosinophilia. Food, pollen, and latex allergies can be identi-
ied with radioallergosorbent (RAS ) testing. Skin testing con irms the
presence o allergen-speci ic IgE. RAS is done when skin testing is not
possible.
12
Ch a p t e r 2 : Al l e r g y a n d Im m u n o l o g y
Treatment
Severe urticaria is treated with antihistamines such as hydroxyzine or cypro-
heptadine, although these are sedating; occasionally a ew weeks o steroids are
required. Milder urticaria can be controlled with newer, nonsedating antihis-
tamines such as:
• Fexo enadine
• Loratadine
• Cetirizine
Chronic Urticaria
• Eliminate the trigger i one is identi ed.
Venom immune therapy
• Doxepin is a nonspeci c histamine and serotonin blocker that is used or desensitizes patients when
chronic urticaria. the insect sting cannot be
• Avoid systemic steroids or chronic urticaria. avoided.
• Use venom immune therapy (desensitization).
A 43-year-old man comes to the emergency department with severe swelling o his ace,
lips, and scrotum. No hives are ound. He has recently been started on lisinopril or hyper- C2: decreased in SLE
tension not responsive to hydrochlorothiazide. His complement levels, speci cally C2 and C3: decreased in pyogenic
C4, are decreased. bacterial in ection
C5–C9: Neisseria in ection
What is the best initial therapy or this patient?
a. Fresh rozen plasma
b. Loratadine
c. Diphenhydramine
d. Furosemide
e. Prednisone
. Epinephrine
13
To p S h e l f : Es s e n t i a l Le a r n i n g f o r t h e In t e r n a l Me d i c i n e Cl e r k s h i p
Answer: The correct answer is (a). Fresh rozen plasma (FFP) will replace C1 esterase inhibi-
CH50 is the initial test or the tor. Epinephrine will not be e ective in those with C1 esterase inhibitor de ciency. This
complement pathway. case has given clear evidence o C1 esterase inhibitor de ciency. In this condition, C2 lev-
els are decreased during acute attacks. C4 is decreased both during acute attacks and
between attacks.
C1 esterase inhibitor de ciency can also be treated with replacement with C1 esterase
inhibitor concentrate and by giving anabolic steroids. Ecallantide is an inhibitor o
kallikrein used or hereditary angioedema.
Al l er g ic r h in it is
Def nition/Etiology
Allergic rhinitis is an extremely common hypersensitivity reaction to inhaled
allergens. Inhaled allergens include pollens, grasses, ragweed, molds, house-
hold mites, or pets. Symptoms can be provoked by cold air, odors, or dust. It is
associated with a history o atopic disorders such as eczema, asthma, and ood
allergy.
Presentation
Allergic rhinitis presents with:
Nasal polyps are associated
with chronic rhinitis. • Rhinorrhea
• Sneezing
• Eye irritation with redness, itching, and tearing
• Occasional cough and bronchospasm
Diagnostic Tests
With severe symptoms, an investigation should be made to identi y speci c
environmental allergens in order to avoid them. T e most sensitive test is allergen-
speci c IgE levels. RAS testing and skin testing are also use ul.
Treatment
T e best initial therapy is intranasal corticosteroids.
Recurrence o allergic A 34-year-old woman is seen in the o ce or a chronic runny nose, cough, and itchy eyes.
rhinitis is more likely with She has these symptoms or several weeks every spring. On physical examination, her
oral antihistamines than nasal mucosa is hypertrophic, edematous, and pale. A polyp is detected. You prescribe
with intranasal steroids. intranasal f uticasone. She returns 3 days later because her symptoms have not resolved.
She insists she is ully adherent to the f uticasone.
14
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Mr. Renaldo managed to keep on the Half-hearted
good side of most of his pupils, but he fell Coöperation
from his pinnacle of power when he made the following
announcement:
“Now, if any of you want to go to Delevan to attend the baseball
meet I’ve nothing to say. I don’t believe our team is going to do
much, but we’ll see.
“If the people outside hadn’t butted in and tried to run our sports
we would have come out all right.
“I know you want to win the state championship. We came so near
it last year that we should have a good chance for it under favorable
circumstances. But we haven’t much of a team. I could have picked a
winning team, I believe; but town folks wanted to run the thing, so
we’ll see what comes of it.”
After this vent of pique a big buzz of criticism arose. However,
when the contest came off at Delevan the superintendent made the
trip and shouted as loud as anyone. Through some strange
characteristic quality he was able to throw cold water one day and
build up fires of enthusiasm the next.
Later in the spring came this announcement:
“We’ll not have any more baseball games with out-of-town teams
this season. Our athletics are absorbing too much attention; too
many people are trying to run things up here.”
Of course the crack pitcher went to the board of education and got
consent of the board to continue the series of games as had
previously been the custom. Later the superintendent said, “Well,
now, let me see who wants to play.... All right, then, if these are your
players, go ahead.”
CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT
One simple rule applies here: develop a consistent policy and cling
to it. If grades are low, get behind the team in every way and you can
usually swing the backward students into line on their studies, even
when there is no danger of losing place because of lame lessons.
Move the players around and use substitutes frequently so that no
one will fasten on a given post as personal property.
A strong man can organize the town folks so that their support will
be always helpful. In any case the appearance of a milk and water
policy must be avoided.
COMMENTS
CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT
Quit the bluff game; it’s playing with fire. Call in the boys who are
behind in their work and settle up the matter of studies without any
reference to playing. Talk very little about what you are going to do
in checking up deficiencies. Do a few of these things and let the talk
come the other way. Hold out natural inducements to good work and
spare the threats for rare occasions. “Barking dogs seldom bite,” is an
old saying that applies to those fearsome teachers who forecast a
terrible punishment and then let the matter pass without further
attention. Each occurrence of a situation such as this is a loosened
spoke in your wheel of fortune. Don’t put yourself in the hands of a
conspiracy by playing a loose game in discipline.
COMMENTS
Shrewd pupils can catch a rash superintendent and trip him into a
heavy fall.
Miss McCord, of the Benton High School, was very unpopular one
winter because she had failed two star basketball performers, and
thus kept them from remaining on the team. These players were in
her advanced algebra class, with about twenty other students, all
ardent basketball enthusiasts. One day she said to Coith Burgess,
who was not one of the players, but who had been especially
indignant at her firmness, “I should like to see you for a moment,
Coith, after class.”
“Oh, would you?” Coith shaped the words Sacrificing
with his mouth, but uttered no sound, and Scholarship
Miss McCord did not see the disrespectful response. When the class
was dismissed he started to go with the rest. Miss McCord, seeing
him go and thinking he had forgotten her request, said to him, “Don’t
forget, Coith,” and went on with her conversation with another pupil.
When she had finished it, Coith was nowhere in sight. He had gone
on to the assembly room, where he was explaining to all the
disaffected his reasons for not doing as “the old crank” had asked
him.
Miss McCord had no mind to pass over the matter lightly. She
talked at once to the principal, and the two arranged a plan of
treatment. Nothing was said to Coith, but he was not asked to recite
the next day, nor did Miss McCord appear to hear him when he
volunteered. The next day the same thing happened; Miss McCord
did not seem to hear or see him at all. That afternoon, Coith met Mr.
Stacey, the principal, in the hall. “How’s this, Burgess?” he inquired,
“You’re reported absent two days in succession in advanced algebra.”
“Absent? Not a bit of it. I’ve been there all right, but Miss McCord
hasn’t asked me to recite. She doesn’t give a fellow a chance.”
“Were you there?... All right.” Mr. Stacey was looking gravely at
Coith. “What reason could Miss McCord have had for not paying any
attention to you?”
Coith began to flush and stammer. Finally, he told the story of his
disobedience, rather sullenly but frankly.
“Why did you do it?”
“I don’t know. Just natural meanness, I guess.”
“I’ll tell you why you did it, Coith. You thought it would make a
little hero of you with all the basketball crowd to be rude and
insubordinate to Miss McCord, just now when they all dislike her,
because she had the courage to stand by her guns in that affair. It
was a case of posing, and the thing has happened to you that does
happen sometimes to the poseur—she took you at your word. If you
chose to put an end to your relations as teacher and student, she
agreed to accept the situation. As I see it, you are out of the class and
your own fault it is, too.”
Of course in the end Coith came back into the class, after making
all due apologies. He had learned the lesson of coöperation; he had
learned, too, to subject his love of approbation to a standard of
fairness and reciprocity.
The instinct for self-gratification often takes the form of a
pathological fondness for prominence and the approval of others. In
Coith’s case his sense of fairness, courtesy, and submission to
rightful authority had all become subordinate to promptings of his
vanity and resentment. The course of Mr. Stacey and Miss McCord
restored in him the proper sense of the relative importance of the
admiration of his fellows and a sound working relation with his
teacher.
CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT
COMMENTS
Those who had offered their services were hurt at not being
chosen. Had the teacher said: “Will you please carry my basket,
Tom?” there would have been a less poignant feeling among the
others that favoritism had been shown by the teacher.
CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT
Talk with two or three of the leading boys, including Darrow, and
ask them about the fishing trip. Show them that you understand “the
call of the wild” that comes with May sunshine. But “put it up to
them” if playing truant is the square thing to do, either to the school
or to their parents. Why should one attend school regularly? Is it
honorable to sneak off without permission? What is to be done about
it? Assume that of course the boys will do something about it. Who
can suggest a fair way of making this wrong right? Probably some
one will suggest that the time be made up, or that the lessons missed
be written out and handed in. Arrange with this small group what is
to be suggested to the larger group. As to Darrow, without telling him
that he is the leader, enlist him in some project that will identify him
with school interests. Perhaps he can plan an outdoor gymnasium,
lay out a tennis court, or superintend the putting up of bird-houses.
By this means get him gradually to work with you until you and he
have formed a solid friendship. Identify him with your own
leadership; form a partnership with him. Truancy will disappear
under such conditions, for real friendship will develop between
teacher and pupils.
Some pupil leaders are useful allies, others are worthy enemies
who may outgeneral the ranking officer. A wise teacher sets himself
first of all to win to his loyal support the natural leaders of the pupils.
This is done by first winning their admiration and respect, then by
stressing some interest which the teacher and student leaders have in
common, thus making common cause with them until sympathetic
relations are established. Study your leading pupils; find out their
hobbies, their friends, their ambitions.
COMMENTS
ILLUSTRATION 1
CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT
COMMENTS
This time the children laughed more, and two or three put down
the couplet before they forgot it, in the flyleaves of their books. Again
they teased Mildred at recess, and Mildred began to see that she
must overcome her curiosity or endure continual teasing. The next
day and the next she studied assiduously, and had good lessons. On
the next day, feeling very sure of herself, she fell from grace. When
Miss Ware saw her leaning forward eagerly to hear the advanced
spelling lesson, she stopped long enough to chant—
COMMENTS