Two Paeds In A Pod

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Paediatric research and bedside decisions, talked through with colleagues.

The gist

Two Paeds In A Pod is a paediatric medical education podcast where guests walk through their own studies and the clinical reasoning behind them. Ian Lewins, a paediatric emergency medicine consultant in Derby, usually hosts, and the subjects stretch from sedation for scans and infection risk in babies to formula feeding and climate change.

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About Two Paeds In A Pod

Two Paeds In A Pod is a paediatric medical education podcast in which clinicians and researchers talk through the questions that shape children's care. The regular host is Ian Lewins, a consultant in paediatric emergency medicine based in Derby. His introductions are precise about who each guest is: a registrar, a consultant, a PhD candidate, a medical student. Trainees and students share the microphone with senior clinicians. Research is the backbone of several episodes. In 'Episode 82: The FIDO study', Etim Bakumana, an emergency medicine doctor and PhD candidate, explains a study of roughly 1,800 babies that asked whether bedside clinical variables could predict invasive bacterial infection. The aim was something that did not rely on investigations, built instead on the questions, examination findings and gestalt a clinician already has. A low-risk result might spare a baby a heavy workup. The conversation then goes through what happened to the babies, including how many received antibiotics and how many were admitted. The sedation episode is just as concrete. Thomas Jackson, a paediatric registrar, describes using intranasal dexmedetomidine for children having scans, including a lower top-up dose when chloral had failed during the same visit. Doses come in micrograms per kilo, and Lewins presses for the success rate, remarking that it is what people want to know. Some episodes are presented in association with PERUKI, a paediatric emergency research group spanning the UK and Ireland. The priority-setting episode shows research from the inside: an online survey offered in easy-read and advanced versions, as suggested by the young people who helped design it, and answered by healthcare professionals, parents, and children and young people. The guest, Charlotte, finds it comical that quite a few professionals chose the easy-read version. The show also ranges well beyond acute care. Ashley Rees, a paediatrician and medical educator in Hertfordshire, chairs an episode on infant milks and formulae that runs from a baby's earliest days to toddlerhood, with practical points on expressing milk to share the feeding and on counselling parents against co-sleeping. Katie Knight, a paediatric emergency medicine consultant, joins Lewins on climate change, and the talk moves from individual choices to big polluters, greenwashing and fossil fuel sponsorship of museum exhibits. A migraine episode with two guests, including medical student Julia Avery, weighs propranolol against topiramate for teenage girls with frequent headaches, with an eye on teratogenic effects and on which drug worked for an affected parent. The manner is warm and conversational, and guests are thanked generously. What a listener takes away is a walk through someone's reasoning, from how a study was built to why one drug gets chosen over another.

Made for: Suits a clinician in paediatrics or emergency care, at any stage from student to consultant, who wants a study or a prescribing decision explained by someone who has worked through it.

What sets it apart: Guests often explain research they carried out themselves, from a study of infection risk in babies to intranasal dexmedetomidine sedation for scans, and the host presses for the headline result. Some episodes are presented in association with the PERUKI research group, and they sit alongside conversations on infant feeding and climate change.

In their own words

2 Paeds in a Pod is a clinical paediatrics podcast exploring the decisions, dilemmas, and systems that shape everyday practice.While rooted in paediatric emergency medicine, the conversations range across the breadth of paediatrics — from acute presentations and diagnostic uncertainty to wider service design, professional development, and the evolving evidence base.Each episode brings structured discussion to real-world clinical questions. Alongside practical case-based reflection, we highlight research that has caught our eye and consider how emerging evidence should — or should not — influence frontline care.This podcast is for paediatric consultants, trainees, advanced practitioners, and…

Why you'd press play

A fever under six hours gets a second look, and your pen has a reason to move.

Press play if you want

  • to hear why a promising fever risk rule still calls for caution with the youngest patients
  • to see an MRI sedation result discussed with its study limits in view
Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →
Paediatric emergency medicine researchInvasive bacterial infection in infantsSedation for children having scansResearch priority setting with PERUKIInfant milks, formula and feeding adviceMigraine treatment in children and teenagersClimate change and paediatrics

Talks about

Best episodes of Two Paeds In A Pod

Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.

Episode 82: The FIDO studyDec 21, 2024

A practical conversation about using clinical signs to assess infection risk in infants.

FIDO takes a research acronym and turns it into a practical bedside question: can everyday clinical observations help estimate invasive bacterial infection risk in infants before investigations enter the picture? Ian Lewins keeps the conversation steady while Dr.

Episode 81: Priority Setting in PEM research with PERUKIMay 12, 2024

A clear, grounded account of how paediatric emergency research priorities are gathered and narrowed.

Priority-setting in paediatric emergency research feels concrete here as PERUKI gathers questions from healthcare professionals, children and young people, parents, carers, and adults with experience of PEM care.

Episode 80: Dexmedetomidine for paediatric sedationMay 8, 2022

A grounded discussion of dexmedetomidine and paediatric MRI sedation success.

Paediatric MRI sedation is framed here as a practical problem: helping a child complete the scan while choosing a protocol that still has a chance after an earlier attempt has failed.

Episode 79: Infant Milks and FormulaeApr 3, 2022

A grounded paediatric guide to infant formula, specialist milks, marketing rules and safer feeding routines.

Infant formula is treated here as a practical part of paediatric education, shaped by history, marketing and the tired reality of early family life.

Episode 78: Climate Change and paediatricsNov 14, 2021

Katie Knight links paediatric practice with climate action, greenwashing, and the value of getting involved in campaigning.

Two Paeds In A Pod makes a clear case for why climate change belongs inside paediatric practice, not just around it. Ian Lewins speaks with Dr. Katie Knight about the link between environmental harm, clinical responsibility, and the limits of relying on personal choices alone.

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Episodes

  1. 1

    IV Aminophylline in Acute Severe Asthma: Does It Still Have a Role in Paediatric Emergency Care?

    Oct 25, 2025·3m
  2. 2

    Episode 82: The FIDO study

    Hidden gem

    Dr.

    Dec 21, 2024·31m·2 clips
  3. 3

    Episode 81: Priority Setting in PEM research with PERUKI

    Hidden gem

    PERUKI's paediatric emergency medicine prioritisation turns 305 survey responses into a ranked research agenda, and Charlotte Sloan explains the process with Ian Lewins on Two Peds in a Pod.

    May 12, 2024·26m·1 clip
  4. 4

    Episode 80: Dexmedetomidine for paediatric sedation

    Hidden gem

    ["Ian Lewins on Two Peds in a Pod interviews paediatric registrar Thomas Jackson about a North Middlesex Hospital audit of intranasal dexmedetomidine for MRI sedation.", "The first NICE-guided epoch covered 33 scans over 11 months and achieved a 52% overall success rate, with midazolam succeeding in only 4 of 12 attempts.", "A second 8-month chloral-only epoch still reached only 55%, while the dexmedetomidine epoch reached 81% overall and 85% per protocol across 32 scans.", "Jackson also reports heart-rate drops in about 70% of children, no fluid boluses or other interventions, and continued use of dexmedetomidine as a top-up when chloral fails."]

    May 8, 2022·27m·1 clip
  5. 5

    Episode 79: Infant Milks and Formulae

    Hidden gem

    Two Peds in a Pod has Ashley Rees, a consult paediatrician and medical educator in Hertfordshire, and Rahi Vandabor, a paediatric dietitian and British Dietetic Association spokesperson, talking through baby formula and breast milk from the first days of life to toddlerhood.

    Apr 3, 2022·42m·2 clips
  6. 6

    Episode 78: Climate Change and paediatrics

    Hidden gem

    Katie Knight tells Ian Lewins that climate change is a paediatric issue because air pollution, heat waves, vector spread, pre-term birth, infant deaths, and climate anxiety all affect child health.

    Nov 14, 2021·21m·1 clip
  7. 7

    Episode 77: Magnesium And Migraine

    Hidden gem

    Two Peds In A Pod examines whether high-dose magnesium supplementation helps adolescents with migraine.

    Oct 31, 2021·24m·1 clip
  8. 8

    Episode 76: Advanced Neonatal Practice

    Becky Joyce describes moving from more than 10 years as a neonatal nurse into advanced practice, where her first lumbar puncture and intubation felt “utterly terrifying.” Vicky Payne says students on the Southampton course unpick what they think they know, then rebuild their skills through the year.

    Oct 10, 2021·24m·1 clip
  9. 9

    Episode 75: Concussion and screen time

    Jul 4, 2021·21m
  10. 10

    Episode 74: Paediatric Dentistry

    Hidden gem

    Paediatric dentistry registrars Jessica Tolbert and Lucy Brown tell host Ian Lewins that a knocked-out adult tooth should be put back in the socket ideally within 30 minutes, or stored in milk.

    Jun 20, 2021·34m·2 clips
  11. 11

    Episode 73: Civility, rudeness and unprofessional behaviour

    Hidden gem

    Anna Baverstock, consultant paediatrician at Musgrove Park Hospital, explains how a tweet two years earlier grew into the "I support kindness for all in paediatrics" project and a 2019 Royal College meeting workshop.

    May 23, 2021·39m·2 clips
  12. 12

    Episode 72: The Advanced Practitioner in the Children's Emergency Department

    Apr 25, 2021·32m
  13. 13

    Episode 71: Medicines, Prescribing and Paediatrics

    Apr 11, 2021·30m
  14. 14

    Episode 70: Dr Camilla Kingdon - RCPCH President Elect

    Mar 28, 2021·33m
  15. 15

    Episode 69: Safety netting in the ED

    Mar 14, 2021·23m
  16. 16

    Episode 68: Are podcasts of any value in medical education?

    Feb 28, 2021·31m
  17. 17

    Episode 67: Food Poverty

    Feb 14, 2021·36m
  18. 18

    Episode 66: The path to becoming an Advanced Practitioner.

    Jan 31, 2021·18m
  19. 19

    Episode 65: New Variant Covid-19

    Jan 17, 2021·20m
  20. 20

    Episode 64: Kawasaki Disease

    Dec 20, 2020·33m
  21. 21

    Episode 63: Special Guest Podcast - COVID Vaccines

    Dec 13, 2020·25m
  22. 22

    Episode 62: Injuries During Lockdown

    Dec 6, 2020·23m
  23. 23

    Episode 61: Results of the Petechiae in Children study

    Nov 22, 2020·26m
  24. 24

    Episode 60: An Introduction to Advanced Practice

    Nov 8, 2020·18m
  25. 25

    Episode 59: The Three Muskapeers

    Oct 11, 2020·47m
  26. 26

    Episode 58: Overdiagnosis and industry influence in paediatrics.

    Sep 27, 2020·29m
  27. 27

    Episode 57: Do You Want To Build A Podcast?

    Sep 13, 2020·23m
  28. 28

    Episode 56: Adverse events following Paeds ED attendance.

    Aug 2, 2020·35m
  29. 29

    Episode 55: Does this child need a CT head?

    Jul 19, 2020·26m
  30. 30

    Episode 54: COVID vaccines, facemasks and Primary Care with Dr Ellie

    Host Ian Lewins interviews Dr.

    Jul 4, 2020·31m
  31. 31

    Episode 53: The Limping Child

    Jun 20, 2020·35m
  32. 32

    Episode 52: Late paediatric presentations during the COVID-19 pandemic

    Jun 7, 2020·26m
  33. 33

    Episode 51: Coronavirus and children

    Mar 11, 2020·34m
  34. 34

    Episode 50: The effect of Consultant residence on paediatric admissions

    Feb 23, 2020·28m
  35. 35

    Episode 49: Hypoglycaemia- A Primer

    Feb 9, 2020·22m
  36. 36

    Episode 48: How to use clinical signs of meningitis

    Two paediatricians discuss a paper on interpreting clinical signs in meningitis, focusing on meningococcal disease and diagnostic reasoning.

    Feb 2, 2020·24m
  37. 37

    Episode 47: The Future of Paediatrics in the UK

    Jan 26, 2020·28m
  38. 38

    Episode 46: Balint Groups

    Jan 12, 2020·28m
  39. 39

    Episode 45: Vaccine hesitancy and the Pro-Vac movement

    Dec 15, 2019·31m
  40. 40

    Episode 44: How to pass the RCPCH Written Exams

    Two paediatric consultants discuss the history and structure of the written exams for paediatric trainees, explaining changes in nomenclature and exam order flexibility.

    Dec 1, 2019·31m
  41. 41

    Episode 43: Bronchiolitis

    Nov 17, 2019·24m
  42. 42

    Episode 42: Shape Of Training

    Nov 3, 2019·29m
  43. 43

    Episode 41: Live! at Human Factors in Paediatrics 2019 Conference

    Oct 25, 2019·31m
  44. 44

    Episode 40: Rheumatology

    Oct 20, 2019·22m
  45. 45

    Episode 39: Baby Loss Awareness Week

    Oct 15, 2019·19m
  46. 46

    Episode 38: CPAP on the neonatal unit

    Oct 6, 2019·28m
  47. 47

    Episode 37: Ibuprofen and Chickenpox

    Sep 22, 2019·21m
  48. 48

    Episode 36: MeFirst

    Sep 8, 2019·24m
  49. 49

    Episode 35: The FORCE study

    May 19, 2019·20m
  50. 50

    Episode 34: Reducing knife crime

    May 12, 2019·23m