Pediatrics also spelled paediatrics or pædiatrics, 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.
A children's hospital(CH) is a hospital that offers its services exclusively to infants, children, adolescents, and young adults from birth up to until age 18, and through age 21 and older in the United States. In certain special cases, they may also treat adults. The number of children's hospitals proliferated in the 20th century, as pediatric medical and surgical specialties separated from internal medicine and adult surgical specialties.
The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) is one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States Department of Health and Human Services. It supports and conducts research aimed at improving the health of children, adults, families, and communities, including:
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.
Pediatric surgery is a subspecialty of surgery involving the surgery of fetuses, infants, children, adolescents, and young adults.
Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) is a nationally ranked, freestanding acute care children's hospital in the East Hollywood district of Los Angeles, on Sunset Boulevard at the corner of Vermont Avenue. The hospital has been academically affiliated with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California since 1932 and the hospital features 401 pediatric beds. The hospital provides comprehensive pediatric specialties and subspecialties to infants, children, teens, and young adults generally aged 0–21 throughout California and the west coast. The hospital also sometimes treats adults that require pediatric care. The hospital has a rooftop helipad and is an ACS verified level I pediatric trauma center, one of a few in the region. The hospital features a regional pediatric intensive-care unit and an American Academy of Pediatrics verified level IV neonatal intensive care unit.
Children's Medical Center Dallas is a nationally ranked pediatric acute care teaching hospital located in Dallas, Texas, USA. The hospital has 496 pediatric beds and is affiliated with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. It provides comprehensive pediatric specialties and subspecialties to infants, children, teens and young adults aged 0–21 throughout Texas and surrounding regions. It sometimes treats adults who require pediatric care as well. It has an ACS designated level 1 pediatric trauma center, one of five in Texas. The hospital also has affiliations with the adjacent Parkland Memorial Hospital.
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.
Lewis A. Leavitt is medical director of the Waisman Center on Human Development at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine. Leavitt graduated from the University of Chicago School of Medicine and is the husband of medical historian Judith Walzer Leavitt.
Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian is a women's and children's hospital at 3959 Broadway, near West 165th Street, in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It is a part of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and the Columbia University Irving Medical Center. The hospital treats patients aged 0–21 from New York City and around the world. The hospital features a dedicated regional ACS designated pediatric Level 1 Trauma Center and is named after financial firm Morgan Stanley, which largely funded its construction through philanthropy.
Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital is a pediatric acute care children's teaching hospital located in Cleveland, Ohio. It is affiliated with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and has a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), and level 1 pediatric trauma center.
UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland formerly known as Children's Hospital Oakland, is a pediatric acute care hospital located in Oakland, California. The hospital has 191 beds and is affiliated with the UCSF School of Medicine. The hospital provides comprehensive pediatric specialties and subspecialties to infants, children, teens and young adults aged 0–21 throughout Northern California. UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland also features a Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center, one of five in the state.
Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford (LPCH) is a nationally ranked women's and children's hospital which is part of the Stanford University Health system. The hospital is located adjacent to the campus at 725 Welch Road, Palo Alto, California. It was founded in 1991 and is staffed by over 650 physicians with 4,750 staff and volunteers. The hospital specializes in the care of infants, children, teens, young adults aged 0–21, but sometimes treats older adults and expectant mothers. Lucile Packard Children's Hospital is an ACS verified Level 1 regional pediatric trauma center, 1 of 7 in the state.
Childhood cancer is cancer in a child. About 80% of childhood cancer cases in high-income countries can be successfully treated via modern medical treatments and optimal patient care. However, only about 10% of children diagnosed with cancer reside in high-income countries where the necessary treatments and care is available. Childhood cancer represents only about 1% of all types of cancers diagnosed in children and adults, It is often more complex than adult cancers with unique biological characteristics and research and treatment is yet very challenging and limited. For this reason, childhood cancer is often ignored in control planning, contributing to the burden of missed opportunities for its diagnoses and management in countries that are low- and mid-income.
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.
A pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP) is a nurse practitioner who specializes in care for newborns, infants, toddlers, pre-schoolers, school-aged children, adolescents, and young adults. Nurse practitioners have an in-depth knowledge and experience in pediatric healthcare including well childcare, and prevention/management of common pediatric acute illnesses and chronic conditions. This care is provided to support optimal health of children within the context of their family, community, and environmental setting. In order to be a pediatric nurse practitioner one must be compassionate, resourceful, good at communicating and have good attention to detail.
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) is a not-for-profit children's healthcare system located in the Atlanta area, dedicated to caring for infants, children, teens, and young adults age 0–21 throughout Georgia. Children's formed in 1998 when Egleston Children's Health Care System and Scottish Rite Medical Center came together, becoming one of the largest pediatric systems in the United States. In 2006, Children's assumed responsibility for the management of services at Hughes Spalding Children's Hospital, growing the system to three hospitals.
Children's Hospital at Erlanger is a 118-bed, tertiary care children's hospital located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The hospital serves as the pediatric center of excellence for Erlanger Health System, the tenth largest public health system in the United States. Children's Hospital at Erlanger treats infants, children, teens, and young adults aged 0-21. It is located adjacent to Erlanger Baroness Hospital, just east of downtown Chattanooga.
The Children's Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) is a nationally ranked pediatric acute care children's teaching hospital located in the Bronx, New York. The hospital has 193 pediatric beds and is affiliated with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. The hospital is a member of the Montefiore health network and is the only children's hospital in the network. The hospital provides comprehensive pediatric specialties and subspecialties to infants, children, teens, and young adults aged 0–21 throughout the Bronx and New York state. Children's Hospital at Montefiore also sometimes treats adults that require pediatric care. While CHAM does have a pediatric emergency department, they do not have a pediatric trauma center and sends all pediatric trauma cases to the nearby Jacobi Medical Center's level II pediatric trauma center. The Children's Hospital at Montefiore is one of the largest providers of pediatric health services in New York state. The hospital is attached to Montefiore Medical Center and is affiliated with the Ronald McDonald House of New York.
Prasanna Nair is an Indian-born doctor working in the United States. She works in primary health care with a specialty in pediatric endocrinology.
