Category: Common

Pediatrics offers a career in a stimulating, challenging and rewarding area of Medicine. It is one of the richest in scope and variety, since it contains within it a microcosm of almost the whole of medicine, ranging from the ‘high-tech’ areas of Pediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care to the holistic approach necessary in the management of a disabled child, from the organization of preventative services in the community to the intensive treatment of a child with cancer. From the pre-term infant to the difficult adolescent the Pediatrician focuses on the child and the family, working to minimize the adverse effect of disease and to allow the child to live a normal life.

Pediatricians work closely with other related medical specialties such as Obstetrics, Anesthetics, and Surgery. They also work closely with other professionals such as Physiotherapists, nurses and Speech Therapists, as well as teachers and Social Workers; the concept of multidisciplinary teams is well advanced, providing an integrated package of care for the child and a stimulating and enjoyable environment in which to work.

Pediatric nursing has evolved dramatically over the past two decades; in particular the Pediatric Specialties have emerged, closely allied to Academic Pediatrics. Community Child Health, with its focus on prevention and the broader issues of health within the whole childhood community has become an important part of the responsibility of Pediatricians. While General Pediatrics remains the bedrock of the service there has been a recent trend towards more integration of the service, both between community and hospital and between secondary and specialist services. Pediatrics has finally come of age as a specialty on an equal footing with the other main specialties: in 1996 we finally achieved our own Royal College.

As you can see Paediatric nursing offers scope for a wide variety of careers to suit all tastes. Consultant paediatricians working in local hospitals generally develop a special interest in addition to their general paediatric and neonatal commitments. Those in teaching hospitals and regional referral units are more likely to be full time in a single speciality though many retain a general paediatric commitment; they may have a shared academic and clinical post. Consultants working in the community are increasingly involved in specialities such as disability or child protection.

General Pediatricians

General pediatricians treat most children requiring admission with acute illness. Acute management of ill children in hospital sometimes requires intensive therapy; the rapid recovery characteristic of children is a pleasant reward for involvement in a busy on-call responsibility. Outpatient referrals for medical opinions in children are seen in general paediatric outpatient clinics. The range of illnesses seen by the general paediatrician varies from the common problems of infancy such as feeding difficulties, failure to thrive or behavioural difficulties, to the diagnosis and long term management of more serious acute and chronic childhood illnesses such as severe asthma, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, epilepsy, juvenile arthritis, gastro-intestinal disorders and cancer. In larger districts a Paediatrician who has developed a special interest in that arena will manage these conditions. The Paediatrician often acts as a coordinator of care for a child with complex problems, and is in a good position to assess the importance of social and psychological issues in the causation of illness, as well as the impact of illness on the life of the child and family.

Care of the newborn is another responsibility for many general paediatricians. Larger DGHs may provide intensive care for the sick neonate, but smaller units will refer such babies to the nearest Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for a period. General paediatricians may also care for children with physical or learning difficulties and may undertake paediatric work outside hospital in the local clinics or schools. For more complex problems care of patients is often shared with specialists in the local Tertiary unit.

Specialist Pediatricians

There are a large number of paediatric specialities covering similar subjects as in adult medicine, with additional areas such as neonatal and developmental medicine. Specialist paediatricians concentrate on a narrower field and often carry out more research than their general paediatric colleagues. They see referrals from the local hospitals and often the care of the child with complicated illnesses with the referring paediatrician. Because the number of such patients is small the paediatric specialists cover a wide area and are usually based in University teaching hospitals where specialised equipment, therapists and clinical and research laboratories are sited. Being a paediatric specialist does not mean that the important aspects of caring for the child and family are forgotten: this is an important responsibility and requires that these doctors must have wide experience in the care of children as well as in their speciality.

Community Pediatricians

Community Pediatricians cover a wide range of roles; on one hand they often work as part of the general Paediatric team, often concentrating on clinical areas such as neuro-disability and child protection. Some work at the interface between Health and Education or Social Services while others organise district services such as Prevention and surveillance programmes for children working closely with general practitioners, health visitors and school nurses. Some consultant paediatricians with a special interest in this field may work full time as community paediatricians, while others work as members of a general pediatric team.

Are you a person who likes to care for and support others? Are you contemplating a career in one of the health care professions but can’t make up your mind which? Chiropractic could be just the job!

Chiropractic is a profession that specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of conditions which are due to mechanical dysfunction of the joints and their effects on the nervous system. Chiropractors use their hands to adjust the joints of the spine and extremities to improve mobility and relieve pain. This treatment is known as ‘adjustment’ or ‘manipulation’, and allows the body’s own healing powers to improve health and well-being.

Chiropractors do not prescribe drugs or use surgical procedures and treatment is suitable for everybody – from new-born babies to the elderly – without a referral from a GP. However, with the ever-increasing amount of clinical evidence of chiropractic effectiveness in the treatment of a range of conditions such as back pain, headaches, sports injuries, arthritis and many others, more and more GPs are sending their patients to chiropractors for treatment.

The chiropractic profession is regulated by the General Chiropractic Council (GCC), which was established in 1999. All chiropractors must be registered with the GCC in order to practice legally in the UK.

Why be a chiropractor?

There is now an increased awareness of chiropractic and the benefits it can provide amongst the general public and healthcare professionals. Patients who have experienced a huge improvement in their quality of life are asking for chiropractic care – and telling their friends and relatives. As a result, the demand for qualified, registered practitioners is high and continuing to grow.

How to train to be a chiropractor

The GCC has set the standards of education in chiropractic and all chiropractors must have graduated from an accredited institution before being accepted onto the Register.

There are four accredited Chiropractic Schools in the UK; two are independent colleges, whose courses are validated by UK universities, and two are university-based courses (see below). The GCC has set a minimum standard of 3600 taught hours for its accredited chiropractic courses, and the British Chiropractic Association, the largest and longest-established of the professional associations for UK chiropractors, only accepts graduates who have gone through a minimum four-year full-time internationally-accredited course at one of these Chiropractic Schools.

The BCA-accepted four-year BSc covers in depth training in a variety of subjects including life sciences, biomechanics, clinical medicine and differential diagnosis. Practitioners also undergo practical training in adjustment and supervised clinical training, where they have hands-on practice in treating patients. Graduates who are members of the British Chiropractic Association and the McTimoney Chiropractic Association undertake an additional year of supervised training as a requirement of membership.

What kind of person becomes a chiropractor?

Tim Hutchful, chiropractor and member of the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) gives an insight into chiropractic and how he came to choose it as his profession:

“Chiropractic appealed to me from my teens onwards as I used to struggle with something called “hemiplegic migraines”. My GP and local hospital couldn’t offer me any ease for my headaches even when one was so bad that I fell unconscious, waking up in hospital. I visited a family friend who was a chiropractor and after treatment my headaches eased as problems with my neck were solved. I found this fascinating as I had not heard about chiropractic before.

“I went on to “sit in” with the chiropractor for a couple of weeks to explore it further and then went down to AECC (Anglo European College of Chiropractic, the 1st Chiropractic Collage in Europe) for a look around. On arrival at the College I was given the guided tour by a 4th year student and got the student’s eye view of the course, the staff, the campus and the town, I was sold!!

“I particularly enjoy chiropractic through being able to help with so many different problems from backs to headaches to babies’ colic. This certainly gives you a varied day of appointments and allows you to work with all types of people – young, old, male, female, babies and children.

“I also love being part of a growing caring profession. The most ardent supporters of chiropractic are it’s patients, as chiropractic gives you the ability to help others, and take full responsibility for the direction of that person’s treatment. Being part of the BCA (British Chiropractic Association) gives me further support and encouragement.

Tim’s tips:

• I personally think that communication is paramount, if you can’t talk to a patient, and more importantly listen, you are not going to be able to do your job
• You should enjoy doing things with your hands (I won the school prize for woodwork!)
• Patience is part of communication but never the less you may have to explain some thing to a patient numerous times before they understand it
• Physical strength doesn’t come into it, but you do need to be flexible and dextrous
• The profession is split 50/50 between the sexes and you have to be practically minded, have problem solving skills and keep clam under pressure
• You need to have an ability to adapt, treatment is not prescriptive so you may get 10 patients with the same condition but treat them in 10 different ways as they respond in their own individual way
• You might need to be able to eventually run your own small business too, if you don’t go into an existing practice as chiropractic offers you the opportunity to work for yourself

“The undergraduate program gives you all the basics and then you can look forward to putting it into practice. That is where your fellow colleagues and being part of a good industry organisation comes in to give you guidance. I find valuable ongoing support from the BCA which is the oldest and largest chiropractic association in this country. One thing that is for certain – when you graduate you are just starting to learn. You continue to develop through the years and that’s what makes this profession so exciting, interesting and rewarding.”

In this era of living longer, living better, and understanding the role that both body and mind play in health care, chiropractic has truly come of age. Teaching that the health of the spine is essential to the health of a person, and through a healthier spine comes a healthier mind/body relationship, chiropractic colleges offer an exciting and unique healthcare and career opportunity.

Chiropractic has been international from the beginning. Daniel David Palmer, who was born in Canada, discovered the basic principle of chiropractic in Iowa, USA in 1895. From the outset, students came from all over the world to study this innovative contribution to healthcare, and to take this knowledge to the four corners of the globe.

Chiropractic care, by removing interference caused by a misaligned spine bone (vertebra) that interrupts communication between the brain and the body, offers a person greater awareness of their own potential, and the help necessary to reach that potential.

The brain and the nerve system assemble and transmit information necessary to ensure the proper coordination of the body. The spinal system, consisting of the vertebrae, the spinal cord, and the spinal nerves which exit through holes in the sides of the vertebrae, carry this information from the brain to all parts of the body.

The anatomy of the body is magnificent in design, with all parts engineered to work efficiently. The nerve system is the communication network of the body. When this communication system is functioning properly, the body works in a coordinated manner. The proper position, or alignment, of the vertebrae is integral to this communication. The misalignment of even one of the vertebrae could cause pressure on the spinal cord or small spinal nerves. This interference – called a vertebral subluxation – causes an alteration of body function that lessens the body’s ability to maintain its own health. Adjusting subluxated vertebrae to their proper position helps to restore the body’s internal harmony.

Most of the chiropractors in the world today have earned their doctor of chiropractic degrees in North America. To attend North American chiropractic colleges, a student must have completed the equivalent of 60 United States undergraduate semester hours at a liberal arts or science college. The chiropractic curriculum is a minimum of four and a half years, or approximately 4600 classroom hours, and is designed to offer, in sequence, all the courses pertinent to a complete chiropractic education.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service has approved all eighteen chiropractic colleges in North America to issue Form I20AB, which is necessary to obtain a student visa. International scholarships are also available for students who qualify. The study of chiropractic not only teaches how to safely and gently restore the misaligned vertebrae to their proper position, it also teaches how to take and read x-rays. It develops the art of spinal palpation and incorporates the biological and clinical sciences necessary to assume the role of a primary health care provider. Upon completion of the program, the student is awarded the doctor of chiropractic degree.

A career in chiropractic allows graduates to be in charge of their own future. A relatively young profession, chiropractic abounds in career opportunities. The majority of graduates joining the profession enter private or associate practice. Practicing chiropractic offers the personal satisfaction of helping individuals achieve a healthier, more fulfilling life. To help people express more of their inborn potential is something words alone cannot describe.

Additionally, each chiropractic college needs competent educators and chiropractic researchers. The interest in chiropractic is such that research projects have been established at large universities in the United States and other countries. There are also opportunities to lecture and write about chiropractic. Thus we see that chiropractic, founded on a unique healthcare perspective, leads to a variety of career options, and allows freedom of location and lifestyle in creating a life filled with purpose and service. Today, chiropractic is one of the fastest growing professions in the world, and offers a career and a future as dynamic and vital as life itself.

There is no doubt that many young people have dreamed of becoming a medical doctor from a very young age. There is also no doubt that studying in Britain has a special kudos all of its own. But what about the job?

Becoming a doctor involves many years of rigorous study (quite rightly) followed by several years of additional study should you choose to specialize. Although by no means badly paid, it can take an awfully long time to reach the top, and for most – if not all – of that time, you will always be answerable to someone else.

So what if you really love the idea of the academic rigor of medicine and the rewards of healing, but frankly don’t have the stomach for the more unpleasant physical aspects? What if you don’t fancy the idea of working for someone else, and would really like to be your own boss? Or what if something inside you keeps telling you that if there is a way of healing without the use of drugs, the natural way has to be preferable?

If any of the above have ever crept into your thought process, then you could do a lot worse than taking a long hard look at chiropractic as a career.

What is Chiropractic?

Chiropractic is a medical system which was developed by Daniel Palmer, a Canadian living the United States, in 1895. It was based on the concept that most, if not all, ill health or disease was due to neurological dysfunction (or problems with the central and peripheral nervous systems) and that by using manipulation and adjustments of the muscle-skeletal system, particularly the spine, as well as support techniques, much ill health and disease could be corrected.

Since then, chiropractic has grown to become the third largest health care profession in the world after medicine and dentistry, and is a recognized part of the healthcare system in countries spanning the globe.

Chiropractors DO NOT prescribe drugs or perform surgery, but frequently offer an alternative to both. They bring help and relief to thousands of patients who would otherwise suffer prolonged pain or illness.

How long does it take?

Depending on where you study, it takes about five years to qualify as a chiropractor, with a further year spent working under the close supervision of an experienced chiropractor in a clinic.

What do the courses involve?

Typically, the first part of a chiropractic course lasts four years and results in a BSc in Chiropractic Science. The fifth year then leads to the award of an MSc in Chiropractic, at which point graduates can register with the governing or statutory body (in the UK, the General Chiropractic Council) and go on to carry out their year of supervised practice. The first two years of the course are similar to those followed by medical students, including anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, biochemistry, nutrition, behavioral science and infectious diseases. Thereafter, the emphasis shifts to chiropractic with technique, radiography, pathology, pharmacology, applied neurology, geriatrics, pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, dermatology, clinic preparation and communication. In the fourth year, students have to complete a major research project, which helps provide a good basis for evidenced-based culture of contemporary health care.

Finally, students spend their fifth year doing what it really is all about: treating patients. Under the close supervision of clinical tutors, students will see a wide range of conditions, as they are trained to read x-rays and able to send patients for a variety of tests at local hospitals. In rehabilitation units, students are now able to work with patients who have a long-term history of chronic conditions in retraining their posture and rebuilding muscles to help improve their condition, where chiropractic treatment alone may not be enough.

Chiropractic Career Prospects

Evidence shows that most graduates quickly start to earn incomes that often exceed those of an experienced doctor. However, nobody ever succeeded in chiropractic who came into it for the financial rewards. You need to be dedicated to the ideals of healing first and foremost, have a first-class brain, and want to make a difference. If you have those, then medical school needn’t be your only option.