Clinical Examination

Pediatrics (also spelled paediatrics) is the branch of medicine that deals with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. The upper age limit ranges from age 14 to 21, depending on the country. Pediatrics is an official peer-reviewed journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 529 pixel Image in higher resolution (896 × 592 pixel, file size: 103 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Pediatrics Metadata This... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 529 pixel Image in higher resolution (896 × 592 pixel, file size: 103 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Pediatrics Metadata This... For the chemical substances known as medicines, see medication. ... “Baby” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Child (disambiguation). ... A separate article is about the punk band called The Adolescents. ...

A medical practitioner who specializes in this area is thus known as a pediatrician (also spelled paediatrician). A physician is a person who practices medicine. ...

The word pediatrics and its cognates mean healer of children; they derive from two Greek words: παῖς (pais = child) and ιατρός (iatros = doctor or healer). Cognates are words that have a common origin. ...

Pediatric polysomnography patient
Children's Hospital (Saint Louis), 2006

Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1024x683, 676 KB) Summary A pediatrics patient prepared for a polysomnogram by a respiratory therapist, Childrens Hospital (Saint Louis), Saint Louis, Missouri, 2006. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1024x683, 676 KB) Summary A pediatrics patient prepared for a polysomnogram by a respiratory therapist, Childrens Hospital (Saint Louis), Saint Louis, Missouri, 2006. ... Polysomnographic record of REM Sleep . ... A patient having his blood pressure taken by a doctor. ... St. ...

Differences between adult and pediatric medicine

Pediatrics differs from adult medicine in many respects. The obvious body size differences are paralleled by maturational changes. The smaller body of an infant or neonate is substantially different physiologically from that of an adult. Congenital defects, genetic variance, and developmental issues are of greater concern to pediatricians than they often are to adult physicians. “Baby” redirects here. ... A human infant The word Infant derives from the Latin in-fans, meaning unable to speak. ...

Many inherited diseases are more often treated by pediatricians than by adult physicians because only recently did the majority of these patients survive into adulthood. Well-known example are the thalassemias, sickle cell anemia and cystic fibrosis. Issues revolving around infectious diseases and immunizations are also dealt with primarily by pediatricians. A genetic disorder is a condition caused by abnormalities in genes or chromosomes. ... Thalassemia (British spelling, thalassaemia) is an inherited autosomal recessive blood disease. ... Sickle-shaped red blood cells Sickle cell anemia (American English), sickle cell anaemia (British English) or sickle cell disease is a genetic disease in which red blood cells may change shape under certain circumstances. ...

Childhood is the period of greatest growth, development and maturation of the various organ systems in the body. Years of training and experience (above and beyond basic medical training) goes into recognizing the difference between normal variants and what is actually pathological. A renal cell carcinoma (chromophobe type) viewed on a hematoxylin & eosin stained slide Pathologist redirects here. ...

Treating a child is not like treating a miniature adult. A major difference between pediatrics and adult medicine is that children are minors and, in most jurisdictions, cannot make decisions for themselves. The issues of guardianship, privacy, legal responsibility and informed consent must always be considered in every pediatric procedure. In a sense, pediatricians often have to treat the parents and sometimes, the family, rather than just the child. Adolescents are in their own legal class, having rights to their own health care decisions in certain circumstances only, though this is in legal flux and varies by region. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Child custody and guardianship are the legal terms used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent and child, including e. ...

Training of pediatricians

The training of pediatricians varies considerably across the world.

Main articles: Medical education and Physician

Like other medical practitioners, pediatricians begin their training with an entry-level medical education: a tertiary-level course, undertaken at a medical school attached to a university. Such a course leads to a medical degree. Medical education is education related to the practice of being a medical practitioner, either the initial training to become a doctor or further training thereafter. ... For other uses, see Doctor. ... Students attend a lecture at a tertiary institution. ... This article is about the unit of teaching. ... Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, Texas, USA. A medical school or faculty of medicine is a tertiary educational institution — or part of such an institution — that teaches medicine. ... For the community in Florida, see University, Florida. ... Doctor of Medicine (M.D. or MD, from the Latin Medicinae Doctor meaning Teacher of Medicine,) is an academic degree for medical doctors. ...

Depending on jurisdiction and university, a medical degree course may be either undergraduate-entry or graduate-entry. The former commonly takes five or six years, and has been usual in the Commonwealth. Entrants to graduate-entry courses (as in the USA), usually lasting four or five years, have previously completed a three- or four-year university degree, commonly but by no means always in sciences. Medical graduates hold a degree specific to the country and university in and from which they graduated. This degree qualifies that medical practitioner to become licensed or registered under the laws of that particular country, and sometimes of several countries, subject to requirements for "internship" or "conditional registration". The Commonwealth of Nations as of 2007 Headquarters Marlborough House, London, UK Official languages English Membership 53 sovereign states Leaders  -  Queen Elizabeth II  -  Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma Appointed 24 November 2007 Establishment  -  Balfour Declaration 18 November 1926   -  Statute of Westminster 11 December 1931   -  London Declaration 28 April 1949  Area  -  Total... A medical intern, in the context of medical education in the United States, is a historical term for a physician in training who has completed medical school, passed step two of the USMLE or COMLEX-USA, and is undergoing his or her first year of post-graduate training (PGY1). ...

Within the United States, the term physician also describes holders of the Doctor of Osteopathic medicine (D.O.) degree. However, outside the United States, osteopaths are not physicians who practice medicine. For further information on osteopathic medicine, see the entry on Comparison of allopathic and osteopathic medicine. For other uses, see Doctor. ... Osteopathy is the body of medicine that originally used strictly manipulative techniques for correcting somatic abnormalities thought to cause disease and inhibit recovery. ... Osteopathic medicine Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) A.T. Still, M.D. (founder) Schools · Physicians Medicine · US Medical education Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine AOA · Licensure · AACOM Allopathic & Osteopathic Medicine § Comparison § History Index · Wiki Project This box:      This article discusses similarities and differences between allopathic and osteopathic medicine. ...

Pediatricians must undertake further training in their chosen field. This may take from three to six or more weeks, depending on jurisdiction and the degree of specialization. The post-graduate training for a primary care physician, including primary care pediatricians, is generally not as lengthy as for a hospital-based medical specialist. Primary care may be provided in community health centres. ... A medical specialist is someone who specializes in a particular field of medicine. ...

In most jurisdictions, entry-level degrees are common to all branches of the medical profession, but in some jurisdictions, specialization in pediatrics may begin before completion of this degree. In some jurisdictions, pediatric training is begun immediately following completion of entry-level training. In other jurisdictions, junior medical doctors must undertake generalist (unstreamed) training for a number of years before commencing pediatric (or any other) specialization. Specialist training is often largely under the control of pediatric organizations (see below) rather than universities, with varying degrees of government input, depending on jurisdiction. A generalist species is able to thrive in a wide variety of environmental conditions, and if a heterotroph, has a varied diet. ... Specialization, also spelled Specialisation, is an important way to generate propositional knowledge, by applying general knowledge, such as the theory of gravity, to specific instances, such as when I release this apple, it will fall to the floor. Specialization is the opposite of generalization. ...

"Pediatrician" versus "Paediatrician"

There is a slight semantic difference associated with the difference in spelling. In the USA, a pediatrician (US spelling) is a specialist physician, but one who generally functions in a primary care setting for children. A similar situation exists in Germany: a kinderarzt is commonly a primary care pediatrician. For the Italian comics character with this name, see Lo Sconosciuto Most general, a specialist is a person which are able to solve some predefined class of problems. ...

In the Commonwealth and in much of the rest of the world, a paediatrician (British spelling) does not normally see patients in primary general practice: he or she sees patients who are either urgently admitted to a hospital or who are referred by general practitioners, who see the bulk of primary care patients. A paediatrician in this sense could fairly be described as an internist who has subspecialized in infants & children, and who has usually had longer post-graduate training in child health than a primary care pediatrician. For other uses, see Commonwealth (disambiguation). ... A general practitioner (GP), family physician or family practitioner (FP) is a medical doctor who provides primary care. ... Internal medicine is concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of internal diseases, that is, those that affect internal organs or the body as a whole. ...

Subspecialists in pediatrics

Specialist pediatricians may undergo further training in sub-specialties. Practising a subspecialty in pediatrics is similar in some respects to practising the relevant adult specialty, but a major difference is in the pattern of disease. Typically, diseases commonly seen in children are rare in adults (eg bronchiolitis, rotavirus infection), and those seen in adults are rare in children (eg coronary artery disease, deep vein thrombosis). Hence, pediatric cardiologists deal with the heart conditions of children, particularly congenital heart defects, and pediatric oncologists most often treat types of cancer that are relatively common in children (eg certain leukemias, lymphomas and sarcomas), but which are rarely seen in adults. Every subspecialty of adult medicine exists in pediatrics (with the obvious exception of geriatrics). Bronchiolitis is inflammation of the bronchioles, the smallest air passages of the lungs. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Coronary heart disease (CHD), also called coronary artery disease (CAD) and atherosclerotic heart disease, is the end result of the accumulation of atheromatous plaques within the walls of the arteries that supply the myocardium (the muscle of the heart). ... This article is about Deep-vein thrombosis. ... Cardiology is the branch of medicine pertaining to the heart. ... See cancer for the biology of the disease, as well as a list of malignant diseases. ... Leukemia or leukaemia (Greek leukos λευκός, white; aima αίμα, blood) is a cancer of the blood or bone marrow and is characterized by an abnormal proliferation (production by multiplication) of blood cells, usually white blood cells (leukocytes). ... This article is about lymphoma in humans. ... A sarcoma is a cancer of the bone, cartilage, fat, muscle, blood vessels, or other connective or supportive tissue. ... Geriatrics is the branch of medicine that focuses on health promotion and the prevention and treatment of disease and disability in later life. ...

Adolescent medicine is a growing sub-specialty. The pattern of diseases in adolescents in part resembles that seen in older adults, and specialists or sub-specialists in adolescent medicine are also drawn from practitioners of internal medicine or family medicine. Another major sub-specialty, which is unique to pediatrics, is neonatology: the medical care of newborn babies. Adolescent medicine is a medical subspecialty that focuses on care of patients who are in the adolescent period of development. ... Doctors of internal medicine (internists) are medical specialists who focus on adult medicine and have had special study and training focusing on the prevention and treatment of adult diseases. ... A general practitioner (GP) or family physician (FP) is a physician who provides primary care. ... Neonatology is a subspecialty of pediatrics defined as the care of the ill or premature newborn infant. ...

Pediatric organizations

Most pediatricians are members of a national body. Examples are the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Canadian Paediatric Society, the Royal College Of Paediatrics and Child Health, Norsk barnelegeforening (The Norwegian society of pediatricians) or the Indian Academy of Pediatrics. In Australia and New Zealand, paediatricians are fellows of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, which covers both nations and which has adult & paediatric sections. This was the situation in the UK until the late 1990s, where specialist paediatricians were Members or Fellows of either the Royal College of Physicians or of the fraternal colleges in Scotland. In 1996, British paediatricians were granted a royal charter to form their own college, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is an organization of pediatricians, physicians trained to deal with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. ... Logo of the CPS The Canadian Paediatric Society, or CPS, is a national advocacy association committed to the health needs of children and youth. ... History of the College The United Kingdoms first national group of paediatricians was established in 1928 as the British Paediatric Association or BPA. Royal College status was granted to the BPA in August 1996. ... Norsk barnelegeforening (The Norwegian Society of Pediatricians) is the Norwegian association of pediatricians. ... This organization, company, or building article needs to be wikified. ... The Royal Australasian College of Physicians, or RACP, is the organization responsible for training, educating, and representing over 9,000 physicians and paediatricians in Australia and New Zealand. ... College building by Denys Lasdun The Royal College of Physicians of London is the oldest medical institution in England was founded in 1518 and is one of the most active of all medical professional organisations. ... History of the College The United Kingdoms first national group of paediatricians was established in 1928 as the British Paediatric Association or BPA. Royal College status was granted to the BPA in August 1996. ...

Social role of pediatricians

Like other physicians, pediatricians are traditionally considered to be members of a learned profession, because of the extensive training requirements, and also because of the occupation's special ethical and legal duties. A profession is an occupation, vocation or career where specialized knowledge of a subject, field, or science is applied. ...

Pediatricians commonly enjoy high social status, often combined with expectations of a high and stable income and job security. However, medical practitioners in general often work long and inflexible hours, with shifts at unsociable times, and may earn less than other professionals whose education is of comparable length. Neonatologists or general pediatricians in hospital practice are often on call at unsociable times for perinatal problems in particular — such as for Caesarean section or other high risk births, and for the care of ill newborn infants. Social status is the honor or prestige attached to ones position in society (ones social position). ... Job security has different meanings according to the employment laws of each country. ... Neonatology is a subspecialty of pediatrics defined as the care of the ill or premature newborn infant. ... Perinatal defines the period occurring around the time of birth (5 months before and 1 month after). ... A caesarean section (AE cesarean section), or c-section, is a form of childbirth in which a surgical incision is made through a mothers abdomen (laparotomy) and uterus (hysterotomy) to deliver one or more babies. ... Parturition redirects here. ...

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that general pediatricians earned an average of $141,440 in 2006.

In August 2000, a paediatrician in Wales had her car vandalised by 'vigilantes', believing her to be a paedophile.^[1] This article is about the country. ... For the aircraft, see A-5 Vigilante. ... Pedophilia (American English) or paedophilia / pædophilia (British English), from the Greek παιδοφιλια (paidophilia) < παις (pais) boy, child and φιλια (philia) friendship, (ICD-10 F65. ...

See also

• Children's hospital
• Medical specialty
• Pediatric ophthalmology
• Pediatric endocrinology

Childrens hospital is a hospital which offers its services exclusively to children. ... A medical specialist is someone who specializes in a particular field of medicine. ... Pediatric ophthalmology is a sub-speciality of ophthalmology concerned with eye diseases and vision care in children. ... Pediatric endocrinology is a medical subspecialty dealing with variations of physical growth and sexual development in childhood, as well as diabetes and other disorders of the endocrine glands. ...

Educational video

Dr. Jessica Mitchell ND discusses Pediatrics and Naturopathy in her practice

Click the link above to watch a full tv show on Naturopathic Pediatrics. Dr. Jessica Mitchell is a Naturopathic Pediatrician practicing in Scottsdale, Arizona. Dr. Mitchell answers frequently asked questions and discusses Pediatrics live on Internet tv.

References

Further reading

• Contemporary Pediatrics - a monthly magazine
• Clinical Pediatrics - a peer-reviewed journal

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Pediatrics

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of

Pediatrics

• American Academy of Pediatrics
• Royal College of Paediatrics website - Homepage for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
• Royal Australasian College of Physicians
• Pediatric Common Questions Quick Answers
• GeneralPediatrics.com - The General Pediatrician's View of the Internet
• Pediatric Radiology - the first international Pediatric Radiology platform for doctors and patients.
• PediatricEducation.org - A Pediatric Digital Library and Learning Collaboratory intended to serve as a source of continuing pediatric education
• Virtual Pediatric Hospital - A digital library of pediatric information
• Pediatrics Official Journal of the AAP
• Summaries of articles published in Pediatrics in Review
• Born in Bradford - A UK-based birth cohort studywritten by Amera Nicholice
• The Pediatric Database
• Case Studies in Environmental Medicine: Pediatric Environmental Health
• MedStudy Corporation - produces quality study/review materials to prepare physicians for Pediatrics Board certification and recertification exams.
• Pediatric Collection by the BMJ - Collection of Pediatric papers published in the British Medical Journal.
• Carrollton Pediatrics Health News
• Paediatrics.info - Pediatric resource for medical students.
• Online Pediatrician - Online pediatricians answer your child health related queries on a regular basis.
• Dynamic Differential Diagnosis