Paediatrics

This week i was able to attend a lecture on paediatrics, the branch of medicine dealing with the care of children and adolescents, upto the age of 16 (in the UK), and i decided to write this brief summary on that lecture.

A paediatrician is a child's physician who provides medical care for children, who may be acutely or chronically ill, but also for healthy children. It is a diverse field, encompassing the care of infants, children, young people and disabled children. Paediatricians also manage the physical, emotional and mental well-being of a child under their care. The main aim of paediatrics is to reduce child and infant deaths, control the spread of disease and promote a healthy lifestyle. Paediatricians, on a regular basis treat children with injuries infections, genetic conditions or cancers, however they are also concerned with the quality of life for a child with diseases or disorders such as, development delays, behavioural problems, functional disabilities and mental disorders.

The main difference between regular doctors and paediatrics is due to the difference in the make up of the adult and child body. Children cannot be considered some adults due to the various anatomical, immunological, psychological and developmental differences between adults and children. Therefore congenital defects, genetic variance and developmental issues are of greater concern to paediatricians that to adult physicians. Moreover, many diseases present differently or have a different course in children (with some occuring solely in children such as bronchiolitis).

In addition paediatricians also need to conisider that children cannat communicate their sympoms effectively and they must also with their families as children are minors and therefore cannot make legal decisions for themselves. Additionally, paediatrics is a collaborative speciality as they work closely with other medical specialists and can themselves be trained as general paediatrics (dealing with the wide range of conditions affecting children) or can specialize in various fields, in paediatrics such as paediatric neuropsychology, paediatric opthalmology, paediatric endocrinology or paediatric oncology.