What Does a Pediatrician Do? - Video
Pediatricians are doctors who specialize in working with, treating and diagnosing illness in children. Pediatric physicians work in hospitals, clinics and private practices.
Job Description
Pediatricians are physicians who specialize in medical care and preventative health care for children. These physicians manage their patient's developmental growth. This includes everything from a child's emotional well-being to their physical and mental health. Pediatricians are sometimes referred to as 'baby doctors' though they treat individuals from birth to toddlers to teens and young adults.
Daily Duties
Pediatricians will see many patients over the course of their day. They will do everything from preventative care treatments and immunizations to detection of developmental disorders and disease. Pediatricians deal with the physical well-being of their patients just as much as they deal with the mental and developmental aspects. These physicians do everything from administering medicine to speaking with children who may be showing signs of stress. Many times, they will work with the same patient from birth until they become a young adult. They perform routine physicals, diagnose critical illness and provide preventative health care to their patients. Pediatricians also work closely with parents or other care givers, explaining diagnoses and answering questions.
Work Setting
The majority of Pediatricians can be found in clinics and hospitals. Typically their role is of a primary care doctor, however, Pediatricians may also choose to specialize in certain areas of medicine. Specializations include infectious diseases, adolescent medicine, cardiology, nephrology or neonatal and prenatal medicine. Pediatricians not only work closely with other medical doctors and staff, but they must know how to relate to children well. Hours may be long with on-call hours and even possible home visits.
