Pediatrics is the branch of medicine concerned with the health of children. It deals with all aspects of a child’s physical and emotional development and well-being, including the treatment of diseases and disabilities. It frequently involves preventive health care. Doctors who practice pediatrics are called pediatricians. These doctors provide care for children from birth through adolescence.
Pediatrics developed as a branch of medicine because many health problems occur chiefly or only in children. For example, chickenpox affects far more children than adults. Children are physically and psychologically different from adults, and so doctors must treat them differently. Children also grow rapidly and thus they change more quickly than do adults.
After graduating from medical school, a doctor who wishes to become a pediatrician must complete at least three years of special training in health care for children. The doctor then can become a certified pediatrician by passing an examination given by a pediatrics specialty board. Many pediatricians take two to three years of additional training in a particular area of pediatrics. For example, they may specialize in blood diseases or cancer; in certain organ systems, including the heart, kidneys, or lungs; or in patients in specific age groups, such as newborns or adolescents. Such subspecialists act as consultants to other doctors and often conduct research on growth and development or on the treatment of disease.
