According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, a total of 3,999,386 infants were born in the United States, and of these children 17.6% are born premature or with a low birthweight (Martin J. A., Hamilton B. E., Ventura S. J., Osterman, M. J., Wilson, E. C., Mathews, T. J.). The medical professionals that are placed in charge of such cases are called neonatologists, and I aspire to become one among the current 3,688 board-certified and board-eligible neonatologists in the United States. As with other medical professionals, these physicians are placed in the lives of their patients to improve their health and to utilize a series of diagnoses to treat their specific health deficits. Although the road through medical school, board exams, and residency is long and difficult—the resulting career is worth it.
Previous to my research, I knew the basics about the career field of …show more content…
These professionals have abnormal work schedules seeing as there will only be a few neonatologists on call, and birthing is not something that bends to the constraints of time. Most work 12 to 24 hour shifts, and are on-call over the weekends, holidays, and religious occasions—forming abnormal sleeping patterns and sometimes familial tension. During this extensive shifts, neonatologists deal with some of the following issues: undeveloped lungs, low body fat in comparison to the infant’s body, underdeveloped liver, weak immune system, immature stomach and/or intestines, and an embryonic neural system. To care for these health deficits there is a number of health professionals that are specifically trained to care for infants: neonatal nurse practitioners, neonatal staff nurses, neonatal respiratory therapists, neonatal physical therapists, neonatal occupational therapists, neonatal social workers, and neonatal