The responsibilities of healthcare professionals are so vast, with an ever-increasing need for healthcare. For instance, gerontologists address the health needs of the aging population. Likewise, at the other end of the medical spectrum, there is a need to focus on the health of younger people. Pediatric care addresses this need and focuses on every aspect of a child’s health and development.
Pediatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the health and medical care of infants, children, and adolescents from birth to age 18. Pediatricians are medical professionals that engage in this branch of medicine. Abraham Jacobi developed the pediatrics field in the mid-19th century, making it a relatively new area compared to other medical branches.
Aim of pediatric care
The primary aim of pediatric care is to limit the rate of infant and child mortality, contain the spread of infectious ailments, help children with chronic conditions and promote healthy lifestyles that foster a long, disease-free life. The responsibilities of pediatricians are enormous; in fact, it’s hard not to see what they do. First and foremost, they work tirelessly to keep children healthy. This includes everything from providing routine checkups and immunizations to monitoring growth and development, treating minor injuries and illnesses, and managing both acute and chronic conditions.
Regarding pediatric care, the primary concern is not only on survival but, rather, the long-term effects on a child’s quality of life. Aside from the physical aspects, pediatric care also focuses on children’s social and mental aspects. As such, pediatricians also help with the prevention, detection, and treatment of non-physical conditions, including:
- Developmental delays
- Mental disorders
- Social conditions
- Behavioral problems
- Functional disabilities
Specialization of pediatric care
Most pediatricians engage in general care, which incorporates different responsibilities for a child’s physical, mental, and social well-being. However, general care is not the only option for pediatricians, as some choose to focus on a specialty. Some prevalent specializations in the field include:
- Adolescent medicine: Focuses on illnesses, habits, and behaviors in patients between ages 10-18.
- Child abuse pediatrics: Focuses on evaluating children who may be victims of some sort of abuse or neglect
- Pediatric emergency medicine: Focuses on the care of acutely ill or injured children in an emergency department.
- Neonatal-perinatal medicine: Focuses on premature and high-risk babies
There are tons of specialties in pediatric care, and medical professionals can specialize in any based on their interests, skills, and educational background.
Pediatrics Training
Pediatricians understand that children are not miniature adults; thus, they have a different set of needs. Working with children is never really straightforward. So for professionals in this field, a significant educational pathway is obtaining an early childhood education that helps work better with children.
This education typically comes from special courses in pediatrics after graduating from medical school. This residency training exposes medical professionals to the art of child care and different pediatric subspecialties.
Pediatricians looking to specialize are also exposed to online programs from reputable institutions. For instance, the University of Indianapolis offers a DNP-FNP online program for nurses that want to attain the highest-level proficiency in family practice.
There are so many other online specialization programs available for pediatric caregivers. The most important thing, however, is for these professionals to be passionate about their work and always remember that the safety and well-being of children are in their hands.
