Paediatrics
Paediatrics is the area of medicine that manages medical conditions affecting infants, children and young people.
Nature of the work
It’s a holistic specialty — treatment takes into account symptoms of the disease and other factors (eg mental and social), making it specific for the individual. The aim is to minimise the adverse effects of disease, while allowing children to live as normal a life as possible.
Paediatricians may offer any of these three levels of patient care:
- primary care in the community and general practice settings
- secondary care, perhaps in a hospital setting
- tertiary care, usually in larger district general hospitals and teaching hospitals
“I work in a truly multidisciplinary team to provide the care that is needed”. Anu Raykundalia, Community paediatric specialist registrar, Ealing Hospital NHS Trust.
General paediatrics remains the bedrock of the service, but there are opportunities to develop close links with other areas of medicine such as primary care, child and adolescent psychiatry and public health. Within paediatrics, specialists may develop skills in a variety of medical fields, including community paediatrics and neonatal intensive care.
It’s a large and diverse field, encompassing everything from high-technology specialties, such as neonatology, to community-based services such as managing care for disabled children.
Paediatrics is forward looking and research frequently leads to impressive and exciting medical discoveries.
Associated sub-specialties
There are many sub-specialties within paediatrics, including:
- allergy, immunology and infectious disease
- clinical pharmacology
- diabetes and endocrinology
- emergency medicine
- inherited metabolic medicine
- neonatal medicine
- nephrology
- neurodisability
- neurology
- oncology
- palliative medicine
- gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition
- intensive care medicine
- respiratory medicine
- rheumatology
- child mental health
- community child health
Want to learn more?
Find out about:
- the working life of someone in paediatrics
- the entry requirements and training and development