Expand mobile version menu

Gastroenterologist

Real-Life Activities

Real-Life Math -- Solution

You want to calculate how much fluid Camille needs per hour.

Amount of dehydration = 10 kg x 0.15

Amount of dehydration = 1.5 kg

1.5 kg = 1.5 L (1,500 ml)

Total amount needed = 1,500 ml + 800 ml normal amount

Total amount needed = 2,300 ml

Amount needed per hour = 2,300 ml / 24 hours

Amount needed per hour = 95.83 ml

Camille needs about 96 ml per hour to be rehydrated.

Gastroenterologists use basic mathematics quite often. They especially need to understand statistics.

"You have to have an understanding of statistics in medicine to understand the research journals, so that you can then treat people appropriately, according to the latest information available," says Dr. Geoff Withers. He's a pediatric physician subspecializing in gastroenterology.

Physics and chemistry courses are required courses for anyone getting into medicine.

"It's not necessarily a math-intensive area," Withers says. "Math skills would be helpful, but I don't consider my math skills very good, and I've managed to get here without that much difficulty."