Among the different types of doctors, the pediatrician is one of the most sought after by patients. This is partly due to the many ills that beset many children because of underdeveloped immunity or parents who would want to provide the best medical care to their children. Children need to be vaccinated to prevent common diseases that afflict children like polio, chicken pox, smallpox, rubella, among others.

Further, it is not easy to detect children’s diseases especially if they are still very young and cannot talk about what they feel. The generic reaction among very young children if they feel something wrong is to cry, and this has a lot of implications. A pediatrician would be in the best position to address children’s problems.

Pediatrician Defined

So what is a pediatrician? A pediatrician is a medical doctor who diagnoses, treats, or manages children’s disorders or diseases. Children are those patients from the time they were delivered as babies, grow to become adolescents, then young adults up to the age of 21.

What disorders or diseases are treated by pediatricians?

Children’s diseases are dealt with differently by pediatricians than other doctors because of their specific circumstances dictated primarily by age and weight aside from the fact that they have different nutritional needs than adults.

Specifically, pediatricians diagnose and treat the following disorders or diseases:

• infections
• injuries
• genetic defects
• learning disabilities
• malignancies
• heart problems
• organic diseases and dysfunctions
• obesity
• injuries
• strep throat
• attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or attention-deficit disorder (ADD)
• other acute and chronic diseases

Aside from physical disorders, pediatricians also manage children’s mental and emotional well-being in every stage of development. In general, pediatricians also

• help reduce infant and child mortality through preventive measures
• control infectious diseases through early detection
• foster healthy lifestyles
• address behavioral difficulties
• detect developmental disorders
• determine and treat functional problems
• provide advice to deal with social stresses including depression or anxiety disorders

Pediatricians, however, do not work by themselves but in cooperation with other medical specialists.

How are pediatricians trained?

Just like the other medical doctors, the pediatrician enrolls in an undergraduate pre-medical course, a four-year medical course, and three years of training on pediatrics under an accredited residency program. This includes a one-year internship and two-year pediatric residency.

After the residency has been completed, the candidate pediatrician need seeks certification by passing the Pediatrician’s Board.

What are different kinds of pediatricians?

Many pediatricians further pursue education and training (known in medical circles as fellowship) in much more specialized areas under pediatrics. Subspecialties include the following:

1. Pediatric Allergy/Immunology- children’s allergy
2. Pediatric Cardiology – children’s heart and its diseases
3. Child Abuse
4. Critical Care Medicine –provision of life support or organ support systems in children who are critically ill and need intensive monitoring
5. Developmental/Behavioral Medicine –developmental disabilities among children and related problems
6. Emergency Medicine –prompt diagnosis and treatment of children’s injuries or sudden illness
7. Pediatric Endocrinology – diagnosis and treatment of conditions affecting children’s endocrine or gland system
8. Pediatric Gastroenterology –children’s gastrointestinal tract (digestive system) diseases
9. Genetics –children’s problems due to heredity
10. Pediatric Hematology/Oncology –children’s blood disorders and cancer
11. Infectious Diseases
12. Neonatal/Perinatal Medicine –diseases or problems affecting children around five months before and the first month after birth
13. Pediatric Nephrology –children’s kidney disorders
14. Pediatric Neurology – children’s nervous system
15. Pediatric Pulmonology – children’s diseases affecting the lungs and the respiratory tract
16. Pediatric Rheumatology – children’s muscles or tendons or joints disorders
17. Pediatric Urology –diagnosis and treatment of children’s disorders in the urinary tract or the urogenital system

Where do pediatricians work?

Pediatricians often work in private or group practices, in clinics or hospitals or in health care organizations. The American Academy of Pediatrics reports that pediatricians work an average of 50 hours a week. Work routine includes office time, patient visitations in hospitals, doing paper work and after hour calls. The high demand for a pediatrician's service makes him one of the best paid, if not the best paid, among the medical doctors.

References

College Board 

Google Definitions

Health Communities 

University of Maryland Medical Center 

©Patrick A. Regoniel 2 February 2011 What is a Pediatrician?