Confused Between Pediatrician and Child Specialist? Here are your answers!

Many times you might have heard two terms: pediatrician and child specialist. It seems similar, in a way yes they are, as they both deal with kids. However, they need to be reached out under different circumstances like a pediatrician consulting children and infants for any physical health concerns. He is a physician whereas a child specialist deals with mental health issues.

To a layman, they sound similar until explained about the diseases or issues individual treats.

Pediatrics as a word has a Greek meaning with ‘pais’ meaning child and ‘iatros’ meaning doctor or healer from the language it has been derived. So, if you meet a pediatrician, you should be expecting medical treatment for the health-related concerns of infants and children. It is a complete range of body care, treatment, and preventive health-related consultations.

A pediatrician however cannot cover everything like mental illness etc. So the need arises here for an expert who can help these little minds get relieved from any sort of concern or issues.

A specialized physician is required as physiologically a child and an adult do have some differences. Also, child psychology is different from the one of an adult. A similar situation for a child and an adult can have different consequences and reactions between the two. For example, kids react differently than their parents in situations like divorce and separation. These are also some of the major causes of mental illness in today’s time. A child specialist is trained according to child psychology and helps children through therapies and counseling.

They listen and observe as a neutral third party. They understand and ensure the interests and needs of the child should be taken care of fostering their mental and emotional development.

The pediatrician looks after details of physical development. When you visit one, firstly the height, weight, and age dimensions are taken into consideration to refer to the right doses. This also helps them understand the child's growth and development.

Dr. Abhishek Sharma, a leading preeminent Pediatrician, and a gold medalist believes in ‘a healthy baby is a happy baby philosophy’ and has helped innumerable kids in his decade-long experience.