Pediatrics also spelled paediatrics, is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics 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.
Thomas Berry Brazelton was an American pediatrician, author, and the developer of the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS). Brazelton hosted the cable television program What Every Baby Knows, and wrote a syndicated newspaper column. He wrote more than two hundred scholarly papers and twenty-four books.
Boston Children's Hospital is the main pediatric training and research hospital of Harvard Medical School, Harvard University. It is a nationally ranked, freestanding acute care children's hospital located at the centre of Harvard Longwood Medical and Academic Area in Boston, Massachusetts. The hospital is home to the world's largest pediatric research enterprise, and it is the leading recipient of pediatric research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It provides comprehensive pediatric specialties and subspecialties to infants, children, teens, and young adults aged 0–21 throughout Massachusetts, the United States, and the world. The hospital also sometimes treats adults that require pediatric care. The hospital uses the Brigham and Women's Hospital's rooftop helipad and is an ACS verified level I pediatric trauma center, one of three in Boston. The hospital features a regional pediatric intensive-care unit and an American Academy of Pediatrics verified level IV neonatal intensive care unit. Boston Children's Hospital has been ranked as best pediatric medical center by U.S. News & World Report more times than any other hospital and is currently ranked as the best children's hospital in the United States. Its research enterprise is the world's largest and most highly funded pediatric hospital. In the 2022 fiscal year, it received more funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) than any other children's hospital in the nation. Boston Children's Hospital was ranked #1 in U.S. News & World Report's 2024-25 Best Children’s Hospitals Honor Roll, marking its tenth consecutive year in the #1 position. The hospital was also rated #1 in the 2025 "World's Best Specialized Hospitals" list for pediatrics by Newsweek.
A delayed milestone, which is also known as a developmental delay, refers to a situation where a child does not reach a particular developmental milestone at the expected age. Developmental milestones refer to a collection of indicators that a child is anticipated to reach as they grow older.
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.
Reach Out and Read, Inc. (ROR) is a US nonprofit organization that promotes reading.
Jane Aronson, D.O. is an osteopathic physician, with expertise in pediatric infectious diseases and adoption medicine.
Congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) is cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in a newborn baby. Most have no symptoms. Some affected babies are small. Other signs and symptoms include a rash, jaundice, hepatomegaly, retinitis, and seizures. It may lead to loss of hearing or vision, developmental disability, or a small head.
Prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE), theorized in the 1970s, occurs when a pregnant woman uses cocaine including crack cocaine and thereby exposes her fetus to the drug. Babies whose mothers used cocaine while pregnant supposedly have increased risk of several different health issues during growth and development and are colloquially known as crack babies.
Trauma in children, also known as pediatric trauma, refers to a traumatic injury that happens to an infant, child or adolescent. Because of anatomical and physiological differences between children and adults the care and management of this population differs.
Pediatric massage is the complementary and alternative treatment that uses massage therapy, or "the manual manipulation of soft tissue intended to promote health and well-being" for children and adolescents. Its goal is to reduce pain, anxiety, loneliness and fear when children are hospitalized or diagnosed with a debilitating medical condition. Pediatric massage therapy takes into consideration each child's individual physical development, cognitive development and health care needs.
Pediatric psychology is a multidisciplinary field of both scientific research and clinical practice which attempts to address the psychological aspects of illness, injury, and the promotion of health behaviors in children, adolescents, and families in a pediatric health setting. Psychological issues are addressed in a developmental framework and emphasize the dynamic relationships which exist between children, their families, and the health delivery system as a whole.
Carol Remmer Angle is an American pediatrician, nephrologist, and toxicologist. Angle is known as one of the nation's leading researchers on lead poisoning. She is professor emeritus at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) in Omaha, Nebraska. Angle joined UNMC in 1954 and was one of the first women to serve as chair of an academic medical department (pediatrics). She also served as chief of pediatric nephrology, director of the pediatric intensive care unit, and director of medical toxicology. In 1957, Angle along with Dr. Matilda McIntire, founded one of the country's first poison control centers. Angle is a founding member and a prior president of the American Association of Poison Control Centers. For forty years, Angle served as an expert for NIEHS, National Institutes of Health and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency panels investigating heavy metal toxicity. Angle continues as a toxicology consultant, reviewer and editor.
Childhood chronic illness refers to conditions in pediatric patients that are usually prolonged in duration, do not resolve on their own, and are associated with impairment or disability. The duration required for an illness to be defined as chronic is generally greater than 12 months, but this can vary, and some organizations define it by limitation of function rather than a length of time. Regardless of the exact length of duration, these types of conditions are different than acute, or short-lived, illnesses which resolve or can be cured. There are many definitions for what counts as a chronic condition. However, children with chronic illnesses will typically experience at least one of the following: limitation of functions relative to their age, disfigurement, dependency on medical technologies or medications, increased medical attention, and a need for modified educational arrangements.
Diana W. Bianchi is the director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, a post often called “the nation’s pediatrician.” She is a medical geneticist and neonatologist noted for her research on fetal cell microchimerism and prenatal testing. Bianchi had previously been the Natalie V. Zucker Professor of Pediatrics, Obstetrics, and Gynecology at Tufts University School of Medicine and founder and executive director of the Mother Infant Research Institute at Tufts Medical Center. She also has served as Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Pediatrics at the Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center.
The Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) is a 35-item parent-report questionnaire designed to identify children with difficulties in psychosocial functioning. Its primary purpose is to alert pediatricians at an early point about which children would benefit from further assessment. A positive result on the overall scale indicates that the child in question would benefit from further evaluation. It is not a diagnostic tool. The PSC has subscales which measure inner distress and mood, interpersonal relations and behavior, and attention. The PSC is also used in pediatrics and other settings to measure changes in psychosocial functioning over time. Michael Jellinek, MD, created the PSC and has researched it over more than thirty years in collaboration with J. Michael Murphy, Ed.D. and other investigators. The PSC has been used in more than 200 studies in the US and other countries and has been endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the state of Massachusetts, the government of Chile and many other organizations.
John R. Knight is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and the Associate Director for Medical Education at the HMS Division on Addictions. In 1999, he founded the Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research (CeASAR) and its companion outpatient clinic, the Adolescent Substance Abuse Program (ASAP). CeASAR and ASAP were the first programs of their kind to be located at a children’s hospital. He is best known as the clinical scientist who developed and validated the CRAFFT substance abuse screen for adolescents. In 2008 he was named the inaugural incumbent of the Boston Children’s Hospital Endowed Chair in Developmental Medicine
Marie Clare McCormick is an American pediatrician and Sumner and Esther Feldberg Professor of Maternal and Child Health in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts. She also holds an appointment as professor of pediatrics in the Harvard Medical School. In addition, she is the senior associate for academic affairs in the department of neonatology at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Her research primarily focused on epidemiology and health services, particularly in relation to infant mortality and the outcomes of very low birthweight (VLBW) and otherwise high-risk neonates.
Helga Zoega is a Professor of Public Health at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland. Her research focuses on the use and safety of medication among vulnerable populations, e.g. pregnant women and children.
Nathan Kuppermann is an American pediatrician and emergency physician who is a member of the National Academy of Medicine. He serves as a distinguished professor in the Departments of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics at the UC Davis School of Medicine, educating future physicians about the fields he is adept in. Additionally, he holds the esteemed Bo Tomas Brofeldt Endowed Chair in emergency medicine. Dr. Kuppermann has made many notable contributions as the founding chair of the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN), and subsequently as the chair of the global Pediatric Emergency Research Network (PERN). His contributions to pediatric emergency research and care highlights his dedication to improving the well-being of young patients across the world.
