A pediatric dermatologist is one who diagnoses and treats skin, hair and nail diseases in children, infants and teens. The physician is trained in two different specialties care of the children and in treatment of related skin diseases where they meet a child’s physical and psychological needs. The physician treats common childhood problems such as diaper rash, acne, birthmarks and warts. A pediatric dermatologist is expert in treating genetic disorders like eczema, impetigo and other virus infections. Pediatric dermatology was started in 1970, until then skin disorders related to the skin in children were treated by the pediatricians. The society for pediatric dermatology was formed by Samuel Weinberg, who was a prominent dermatologist in New York.
This internal organization specializes in dealing with childhood skin diseases. In 2004, pediatric dermatology became a certified sub specialty. Exams were conducted by the American board of Medical specialties to earn a certificate in the specialty. Today there are about 163 certified pediatric dermatologists practicing in the United States. There are many children across the country suffering from skin disorders and they out weight the number of physicians. The most common type of diseases that affect the infants is inflammation, rashes and allergic reactions.
Although there is a growing need for the pediatric dermatologist, only few physicians are interested to pursue this course due to lower salaries. The only reason being that pediatric dermatology does not involve many medical procedures as the general dermatology. According to the Association of American Medical College, the average pediatric dermatologist salary is $204,000 while the general dermatologist salary is about $288,000. The average pediatric dermatologist salary ranges from $250,000 whereas the median pediatric dermatologist salary was only between $100,000 and $150,000 which is the main reason most of the physicians are not interested to go for this course although there is a shortage in pediatric dermatologist. In a survey conducted, report shows that there was only 19% of pediatrician dermatologist whereas others belonged to other sub specialties of dermatology.
