Different Kinds of Doctors
Your doctors help you to be healthy. You see different doctors for different things.
A pediatrician is a doctor who sees babies, children, and teenagers. A pediatrician can give vaccines and watch your physical and mental development. They help you when you are sick with a cold, the flu, or a sore throat. They help you when you have a minor injury, like a sprained ankle.
A family physician helps people of all ages for regular check-ups. They see people with common colds, coughs, or minor injuries, like a sprained ankle. A family physician can also give you a flu shot.
An internist, or internal medicine physician, cares mostly for adults or older teens. They help you with the same care that family physicians do.
As an adult, you will decide if you see a family physician or an internist. It is important that you have a regular doctor who will help you be healthy as an adult.
Your regular doctor can also be called a primary care physician.
As a child and as an adult, you may also see a specialist. A specialist is trained to know a lot about one type of illness or part of the body. There are many kinds of specialists.
An orthopedic doctor takes care of bones and muscles.
A neurologist takes care of the brain, like seizures and headaches, and spinal cord or nervous system.
A cardiologist takes care of the heart.
A pulmonologist takes care of the lungs and breathing.
A nephrologist takes care of the kidneys.
A geneticist studies genes we have inherited from our parents and grandparents.
An ophthalmologist takes care of the eyes.
A dentist keeps your teeth and gums healthy and clean. They also help fix cavities in teeth.
A surgeon takes care of an operation. Some surgeons focus on just one body part or area.
A gynecologist sees only women to make sure the uterus, ovaries, and breasts are healthy.