What is a pediatrician?

A pediatrician is a medical doctor (MD) who treats children. They provide:

• Preventive health care and ongoing monitoring for healthy children.

• Care for children who are acutely or chronically ill.

• Coordination of care for children after hospital discharge.

Pediatricians manage the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of children. This includes every stage of life, in good health or in illness.

In general, they focus on babies, children, teens, and young adults to about age 21 to:

• Reduce infant and child mortality.

• Provide routine immunizations.

• Control infectious disease.

• Foster healthy lifestyles.

• Ease the problems of children and teens with chronic conditions.

• Make sure that kids have the correct development and preventive health screenings.

They advise on, diagnose, and treat many diseases. These include:

• Infections.

• Injuries.

• Genetic defects.

• Malignancies.

• Organic diseases and dysfunctions.

They are concerned with more than physical health. They also work to prevent, detect, and manage other problems that affect children and teens. These include:

• Behavioral problems.

• Developmental disorders.

• Functional problems.

• Social stresses.

• Mental health disorders, such as depression or anxiety.

Pediatrics is collaborative. These doctors often work with other medical specialists and health care providers.

Education

After medical school, primary care pediatricians complete 3 years in an accredited pediatric postgraduate training program. This training focuses on the care of the whole infant, child, teen, and young adult.

Next, these doctors are eligible for board certification by the American Board of Pediatrics after they pass a written exam. They keep their skills and knowledge up to date with continued education, self-assessment, and clinical improvement. This also helps them stay up on the latest medical advances.

Most of these doctors provide primary care for their patients. Many others choose to keep learning through a specialty fellowship. This allows them to provide care in a focused area, such as:

• Adolescent medicine (teens).

• Cardiology (heart and blood vessel problems).

• Critical care medicine (severe illnesses).

• Emergency medicine (sudden, acute conditions).

• Endocrinology (hormonal problems).

• Gastroenterology (digestive problems).

• Hematology/oncology (blood conditions and cancer).

• Infectious diseases (diseases caused by organisms).

• Neonatal/perinatal medicine (problems in babies before and after birth).

• Neurology (brain and spinal cord problems).

• Nephrology (kidney problems).

• Pulmonology (lung problems).

• Rheumatology (joint and tissue problems).