Pediatrics is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the age of 18. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends people seek pediatric care through the age of 21, but some pediatric subspecialists continue to care for adults up to 25. Worldwide age limits of pediatrics have been trending upward year after year. A medical doctor who specializes in this area is known as a pediatrician, or paediatrician. The word pediatrics and its cognates mean "healer of children," derived from the two Greek words: παῖς and ἰατρός. Pediatricians work in clinics, research centers, universities, general hospitals and children's hospitals, including those who practice pediatric subspecialties.
Neonatology is a subspecialty of pediatrics that consists of the medical care of newborn infants, especially the ill or premature newborn. It is a hospital-based specialty and is usually practised in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). The principal patients of neonatologists are newborn infants who are ill or require special medical care due to prematurity, low birth weight, intrauterine growth restriction, congenital malformations, sepsis, pulmonary hypoplasia, or birth asphyxia.
Arkansas Children's Hospital (ACH) is a pediatric hospital with a Level I trauma center in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is among the largest in the United States, serving infants, children, teens, and young adults from birth to age 21. ACH is affiliated with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and serves as a teaching hospital with the UAMS College of Medicine's Department of Pediatrics. ACH staff consists of more than 505 physicians, 200 residents, and 4,400 support staff. The hospital includes 336 licensed beds, and offers three intensive care units. The campus spans 36 city blocks and has a floor space of over 1,200,000 square feet (110,000 m2).
Internal medicine-pediatrics, or med-peds, is a medical specialty in which doctors train to be board certified in both internal medicine and pediatrics. A residency program in med-peds is four years in length, contrasted with three years for internal medicine or pediatrics alone. Upon completion of a med-peds residency, a doctor can practice in the areas of internal medicine, pediatrics or can complete a fellowship program to further specialize in an internal medicine or pediatrics sub-field.
An allergist is a physician specially trained to manage and treat allergies, asthma and the other allergic diseases. They may also be called immunologists.
Established in 1933, the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) is a non-profit organization which represent 24 broad areas of specialty medicine. ABMS is the largest physician-led specialty certification organization in the United States.
Adolescent medicine also known as adolescent and young adult medicine is a medical subspecialty that focuses on care of patients who are in the adolescent period of development. This period begins at puberty and lasts until growth has stopped, at which time adulthood begins. Typically, patients in this age range will be in the last years of middle school up until college graduation. In developed nations, the psychosocial period of adolescence is extended both by an earlier start, as the onset of puberty begins earlier, and a later end, as patients require more years of education or training before they reach economic independence from their parents.
A fellowship is the period of medical training, in the United States and Canada, that a physician, dentist, or veterinarian may undertake after completing a specialty training program (residency). During this time, the physician is known as a fellow. Fellows are capable of acting as an attending physician or a consultant physician in the specialist field in which they were trained, such as internal medicine or pediatrics. After completing a fellowship in the relevant sub-specialty, the physician is permitted to practice without direct supervision by other physicians in that sub-specialty, such as cardiology or oncology.
Board certification is the process by which a physician or other professional demonstrates a mastery of advanced knowledge and skills through written, practical, or simulator-based testing.
The American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS), the official certifying body for the American Association of Physician Specialists (AAPS) is a non-profit umbrella organization for sixteen medical specialty boards that certifies and re-certifies physicians in fourteen medical specialties in the United States and Canada. The ABPS is one of three organizations overseeing Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) and Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) certification in the United States. The ABPS assists its Member Boards in developing and implementing educational and professional standards to evaluate and certify physician specialists. It is recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor as well as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Children's Hospital of Michigan (CHM) is a for-profit, pediatric acute care hospital located in Detroit, Michigan. The hospital has 227 beds and is affiliated with both the Wayne State University School of Medicine and the Michigan State University Medical School. The hospital provides comprehensive pediatric specialties and subspecialties to pediatric patients aged 0–21 throughout eastern Michigan and the Detroit area and is a part of the Detroit Medical Center. The hospital features the only freestanding pediatric Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center in the Detroit region, 1 of 3 in the state. It is an international provider of pediatric neurology, neurosurgery, cardiology, oncology and diagnostic services including Positron Emission Tomography and MRI.
The American Board of Nuclear Medicine (ABNM) certifies physicians as specialists in the practice of nuclear medicine. Diplomates of the ABNM are called nuclear medicine physicians. The ABNM is one of the 24 member boards of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS).
A pediatric intensive care unit, usually abbreviated to PICU, is an area within a hospital specializing in the care of critically ill infants, children, teenagers, and young adults aged 0-21. A PICU is typically directed by one or more pediatric intensivists or PICU consultants and staffed by doctors, nurses, and respiratory therapists who are specially trained and experienced in pediatric intensive care. The unit may also have nurse practitioners, physician assistants, physiotherapists, social workers, child life specialists, and clerks on staff, although this varies widely depending on geographic location. The ratio of professionals to patients is generally higher than in other areas of the hospital, reflecting the acuity of PICU patients and the risk of life-threatening complications. Complex technology and equipment is often in use, particularly mechanical ventilators and patient monitoring systems. Consequently, PICUs have a larger operating budget than many other departments within the hospital.
The American Board of Hospital Medicine (ABHM) is a Member Board of the American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS), the nation's third largest physician multispecialty certifying organization and was founded in 2009. The ABHM is North America's first and only board of certification devoted exclusively to hospital medicine founded by hospitalists and governed by hospitalists.
The American Board of Dermatology (ABD), located in Newton, Massachusetts, United States, certifies physicians in dermatology, dermatopathology, and pediatric dermatology. Board-certified physicians are known as diplomates. Since its inception in 1932, the ABD has certified over 15,000 physicians. The ABD was one of the original four sponsoring organizations of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). Dermatologists possess expertise in all aspects of healthy and diseased skin through basic scientific research and clinical care. In addition to the wide range of medical diseases, dermatologists have practices devoted to skin surgery, care of children with skin disease, immunologic diseases of the skin and pathology of the skin. Dermatologists play an important role in the maintenance of the general public health in educating people about sun avoidance, sun protection and the signs of skin cancer.
In 2006, hospice and palliative medicine was officially recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties, and is co-sponsored by the American Boards of
The American Board of Pain Medicine (ABPM) was founded in 1991 as the "American College of Pain Medicine". The name was changed in 1994 to be more congruent with the nomenclature of other medical specialty boards. The mission of the American Board of Pain Medicine is to improve the quality of pain medicine.
The American Osteopathic Board of Pediatrics (AOBP) is an organization that provides board certification to qualified Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of medical diseases in infants, children, and adolescents (pediatricians). The board is one 18 medical specialty certifying boards of the American Osteopathic Association Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists approved by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), and was established in 1940. As of December 2011, 477 osteopathic pediatricians held active certification with the AOBP. Fellows of the AOBP are eligible for membership in the American Academy of Pediatrics along with fellows of the American Board of Pediatrics.
Pediatric gastroenterology developed as a sub-specialty of pediatrics and gastroenterology. It is concerned with treating the gastrointestinal tract, liver and pancreas of children from infancy until age eighteen. The principal diseases it is concerned with are acute diarrhea, persistent vomiting, gastritis, and problems with the development of the gastric tract.
The American Board of Pathology (ABPath) is one of 24 member boards of the American Board of Medical Specialties. This organization was assembled in May 1936, under the approval of the Advisory Board for Medical Specialties (ABMS) and the American Medical Association (AMA) Council on Medical Education and Hospitals. It is the duty of the ABPath to grant certification in Anatomic Pathology, Clinical Pathology and/or Anatomic/Neuropathology to qualified Doctors of Medicine and Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (M.D./D.O.).
