There are hundreds of medical specialties and subspecialties as doctors always get expertise in one type of medicine or another, but we call all of them doctors. The specialty of a particular doctor may be focused on a defined group of skills, diseases, patients, and philosophy. According to Galen, the modern specialty has evolved from the 19th century and even existed before the formal legal system. Specialties are of different types, such as organ-based and diagnostic versus therapeutic. Still, in this paper, I shall focus on the specialties depending on the age range of the patients. This is with a particular concentration on the pediatrician, family doctor, and gerontologist.
Pediatrician handles medical conditions that affect infant children and young people and hence have a wide range of patients. These complaints in these children commonly do not require surgery; however, there is a sub-specialty of pediatricians who handle pediatric surgery. The pediatrician may also have sub-specialties similar to the organ-based specialties that tackle symptoms and diseases from a particular organ in adults. Some of the subspecialties of pediatricians include palliative medicine, neonatal intensive care, pediatric emergency medicine, child mental health oncology, and community pediatrics. A pediatrician is responsible for diagnosing and treating ailments in children; they are also responsible for monitoring the health and development of children and documenting them. They also administer vaccinations to encourage preventive care and do follow-ups of children from birth in wellness visits. They effectively monitor and communicate their patient’s fitness, nutritional, and health needs to their parents and recommend patients for further treatment and to different specialties when need be (Dickson-Swift et al.., 2020).
To qualify as a pediatrician, one must attend a medical school for pediatrics after their bachelor’s degree. The largest association of pediatricians is the American Academy of Pediatricians for qualified pediatricians. It contains all subspecialties of pediatricians and runs continuing medical education for pediatricians. Pediatricians require several qualities that exemplify their practice. This includes they should effectively communicating with the parents, they should have incredible amounts of patience, they should be committed to the relationships they build, and they should be transparent and trustworthy. Moreover, pediatricians should make the kids feel valued and safe. They should genuinely care, and they should also go the extra mile for the benefit of the children. Pediatricians focus on the holistic nature of the child as they cannot express themselves for effective treatment. Pediatricians can be found in various places, including outpatient clinics, health maintenance organizations, offices, and general and children’s hospitals, and many work in private practices.
A family physician cares for the whole family, including the elderly, adults, and children. They manage all ongoing conditions, including the check-up and screening tests for all the family members (Kidd, 2020). They are also involved in giving flu and other immunization shots. They provide care despite the health problem, sex, or age to the entire family. They are general practitioners coordinating comprehensive healthcare services addressing a family’s social, psychological, and physical needs. Family doctors may also serve as part of a primary healthcare team and ensure coordinated, continuous, and comprehensive care to the patients and their families, hence essential in delivering healthcare services. They do not require any further medical specialty after medical school and hence differ from the general doctors. The similarity between a family doctor and a pediatrician is that they must undergo routine education and training to provide the best healthcare quality to their patients. A family doctor specializes in treating patients of all ages, while a pediatrician specializes in treating children.
The scope of practice of family doctors includes serving as clinicians, leaders, advocates, and teachers, providing acute, emergency, and long-term care, and they manage all illnesses from “womb to tomb .”After their undergraduate and medical school, most family doctors require an additional three-year residency. However, there are several challenges that family doctors face, including unsafe care, misdirected care, fragmented care due to excessive specialization, impoverishing care, and inverse care. This is because of the complexity of managing different comorbidities and the current medicines expanding knowledge (De Sutter et al.., 2020).
Geriatric medicine specialties are involved in specifically treating the elderly. They are found in several areas, including hospitals, assisted living centers, nursing homes, doctors’ offices, and even patient residence homes. ( E. Gaugler, 2023) Gerontologist is experts in human aging and care for the elderly. A gerontologist’s responsibilities include fostering collaborative care and combating stigma to enable the well-being and wellness of the elderly individual; they provide high-quality medical care to the elderly, consult on the accessibility, housing, and psycho-social needs of the elderly, and work with other healthcare specialist and researchers to comprehend age-related trajectories.
Moreover, they write and investigate aging across contexts of race, different social backgrounds, and other diverse features, and they continuously learn about developments in their chosen sub-specialty. Gerontologists qualify for gerontology before practice and must demonstrate expertise in caregiver training. Some challenges gerontologists face include coping with ethical and legal issues, facing death and loss, being sensitive to the aging process, promoting a healthy lifestyle and social inclusion, and understanding common mental health issues for the elderly. A difference between the family doctor and the gerontologist is that a family doctor is geared to general practice, while a gerontologist is specialized in the needs of the elderly. A similarity is the overlap of roles as they both are involved in patient care, and even the family doctor also manages the elderly in the family.
In conclusion, as discussed above, medical specialties may be categorized based on age. Pediatricians deal with infants and children, while gerontologists deal with the elderly. On the other hand, family doctors may be regarded as general practitioners as they deal with every age group within the family. Moreover, with the specialty, there are subspecialties where a pediatrician may focus on a specific organ. Therefore the medical field is wide and rapidly changing, and passion for a particular specialization is important as it builds who you are as a medical practitioner.
References
Kidd, M. (2020). The contribution of family medicine to improving health systems: a guidebook from the World Organization of Family Doctors. CRC Press. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.1201/9780429084201/contribution-family-medicine-improving-health-systems-michael-kidd
Gaugler, J. (2023). Introductory Editorial: Cultivating the Formidable Legacy of The Gerontologist. The Gerontologist, 63(1), 1-2. https://academic.oup.com/gerontologist/article-abstract/63/1/1/6957241
De Sutter, A., Llor, C., Maier, M., Mallen, C., Tatsioni, A., van Weert, H., … & Stoffers, J. (2020). Family medicine in times of ‘COVID-19’: A generalists’ voice. European Journal of General Practice, 26(1), 58-60. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13814788.2020.1757312
Dickson-Swift, V., Kenny, A., Gussy, M., McCarthy, C., & Bracksley-O’Grady, S. (2020). The knowledge and practice of pediatricians in children’s oral health: A scoping review. BMC Oral Health, 20(1), 1-10. https://bmcoralhealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12903-020-01198-0
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