The field of medicine known as pediatrics focuses on the health and medical care of infants, young children, and teens from birth to age 18. The name “pediatrics” means “healer of children”; they are derived from two Greek words: (pais = child) and (iatros = doctor or healer). Only in the middle of the 19th century did pediatric medicine start to take off. Abraham Jacobi is credited with founding pediatrics (1830–1919).
Describe Pediatrics
The field of medicine known as pediatrics often spelled pediatrics or pediatrics deals with the treatment of newborns, children, adolescents, and young adults. Many children and teenagers in the UK are covered by pediatrics up until age 18.
Nonetheless, some pediatric subspecialists continue to treat adults up to the age of 25, despite the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation that people seek pediatric care until they are 21. Global pediatric age restrictions have been moving raised over the past few years. A pediatrician, often known as a pediatrician, is a medical professional who specializes in this field. The phrases pediatrics and its cognates, which translate as “healer of children,” are derived from the Greek words pais (“child”) and phlegma (“healer”) (iatros “doctor, healer”).
Pediatricians, including those who practice pediatric subspecialties, work at clinics, research institutes, universities, general hospitals, and children’s hospitals (e.g. neonatology requires resources available in a NICU). as well as children’s hospitals, including those that specialize in pediatrics (e.g. neonatology requires resources available in a NICU).
History
The first pediatric hospital in the English-speaking world, Great Ormond Street Hospital is located in London, United Kingdom.
The famous Sacred Disease and the fifth-century B.C. Hippocratic Corpus both make the first mentions of child-specific medical issues. These articles covered subjects like infant prematurity and childhood epilepsy. Greek philosophers and physicians such as Celsus, Soranus of Ephesus, Aretaeus, Galen, and Oribasius wrote about specific ailments affecting children, such as rashes, epilepsy, and meningitis, between the first and fourth centuries A.D. Ex toto non, sic pueri ut viri curari debent: Hippocrates, Aristotle, Celsus, Soranus, and Galen all acknowledged the variations in developing and mature organisms that required different care (“In general, boys should not be treated in the same way as men”). Ancient India, where pediatricians were known as kumara bhrtya, has some of the earliest records of pediatrics.
How does a Pediatrician Practice?
A physician with a focus on treating children is known as a pediatrician. They provide both treatments for children who are gravely or chronically ill and preventive healthcare services for children who are well. A pediatrician is responsible for monitoring the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of the children under their care at every stage of development and in both good and bad health.
Aims of Pediatrics
Pediatrics aims to reduce infant and child mortality rates, control the spread of infectious diseases, promote healthy lifestyles for a long life free of illness, and help kids and teenagers with chronic illnesses by providing support.
Pediatricians diagnose and treat a variety of conditions in children, including:-
- injuries
- infections
- genetic and congenital conditions
- cancers
- organ diseases and dysfunctions
In addition to the urgent treatment of the sick child, pediatrics is concerned with the long-term effects on quality of life, impairment, and survival. Pediatricians take care of, prevent, and make early diagnoses of problems like:-
How does Pediatrics differ from adult medicine?
Pediatric medicine is very different from adult medicine in many respects. The physiological makeup of a baby, neonate, or child’s smaller body is considerably different from that of an adult. Hence, treating children is different from treating a little adult.
Pediatricians are more concerned than doctors who treat adults with congenital defects, genetic variation, and developmental issues. Also, pediatrics faces several legal issues. Children typically cannot make decisions because they are still minors. Informed consent, guardianship, privacy, and legal responsibility should all be considered in pediatric procedures.
Training
To become a pediatrician, you need to have completed medical school. Before turning into a physician who provides primary care, he or she must first finish three years of study in a recognized pediatric residency program. They learn at this period how to take care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults.
A doctor can apply to the American Board of Paediatrics for board certification after finishing a pediatric residency and passing a challenging written test. Recertification is required every seven years.
Subspecialties in pediatrics
Subspecialties in pediatrics include:
- gastroenterology
- hematology
- neonatal medicine
- pediatric cardiology
- critical care medicine
- endocrinology
- nephrology etc.