A pediatrician is a doctor who specializes in the care of children; in Latin, a pediatrician is literally a “healer of children”.

Pediatrics is a very broad medical specialty, encompassing everything from general practice to children's oncology. Just like other medical specialties, pediatrics requires a medical school education followed by several years of residency in pediatrics or “peds” as it is affectionately called.

A pediatrician who wishes to subspecialize in a particular field like oncology or orthopedics must complete an additional residency in his or her specialty.

A pediatrician can care for a child from birth to around age 18; some kids become very fond of their pediatricians, and in some cases the doctor may agree to keep seeing a child until his or her early twenties.