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Pediatrics
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Pediatrics
Pediatrics (also spelled
paediatrics or pædiatrics) is the branch of medicine that
deals with the medical care of infants, children, and
adolescents. The word pediatrics is derived from two Greek
words paidi (παιδί) which means "little child" or "boy" and
iatros (ιατρός) which means "doctor". Most pediatricians are
members of a national body, such as the American Academy of
Pediatrics, the Canadian Paediatric Society, the British
Association of Paediatric Surgeons, the Royal College Of
Paediatrics and Child Health, Norsk Barnelegeforening (The
Norwegian society of pediatricians) or the Indian Academy of
Pediatrics.
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,
immunology, oncology, and a host of other issues are unique
to the realm of pediatrics. Increasingly effective health
care also means that diseases such as sickle cell anemia and
cystic fibrosis are more often treated by pediatricians,
though many or most patients grow into adulthood. Issues
revolving around infectious diseases and immunizations are
also dealt with primarily by pediatricians.
Pediatrics is also a springboard for any specialty of
general medicine, each with its own unique aspects.
Pediatric cardiologists deal with congenital heart defects,
pediatric oncologists often treat leukemias and lymphomas.
Every subspecialty of the adult doctor exists in the
pediatric field (with the exception of geriatrics), but some
are unique to pediatrics, such as adolescent medicine,
sports medicine, and neonatology.
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.
Another major difference between pediatrics and adult
medicine is that children are minors and, in most
jurisdictions, cannot make decisions for themselves. The
issue of guardianship, 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.
In the U.S., pediatricians are considered to be primary care
doctors, along with family practice, internal medicine, and
obstetrics. Much of the rest of the world considers them
specialists, and parents are only referred to pediatricians
for special care not handled by the generalists.
Abraham Jacobi is considered the father of
pediatrics.
Source: Wikipedia contributors (2005). Pediatrics. Wikipedia,
The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 12:11, December 26, 2005
from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pediatrics&oldid=32735580.
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