What exactly is a neonatal specialist?

Question

Im only 14 but im very serious about my future and ive always wanted to be a doctor that works with young children and i know a neonatal specialist works with new borns but im trying to get as much info as possible and possibly a recommendation for a good medical college. Thanks :]

Answer 1

You're a little young to worry about specialties just yet, not to be patronizing at all--I think it's great that you are already thinking about what you want to do!  But for now, you really should concentrate on high school and college--even med school is a long way off.  Just keep in mind that there are lots of specialties out there, and lots of different careers where you work with kids.

From your question, I'm not sure you realize that you need to get a bachelor's degree before you apply to medical school.   There are a few programs that will accept students to go directly from college into med school, as long as you do well, and you can ask your high school counselor to help you find them.  But you will need to do that first.  You can major in anything you want in college as long as you cover a few pre-requisites that medical schools require (one year each of English, chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, biology and usually one year of math).  That is usually four years, and then med school itself is four years.  In your last year of med school you apply for 'residency' and only then do you need to decide on a specialty.  Residency is anywhere from three to seven years more of training (but it's also a job and we do get paid for this).  You can even go on and do extra years in 'fellowships' after that if you want to specialize further.

Neonatal specialists do a lot of different things.  They care for newborns, as you know, which usually means infants up to one month, but they may care for preemies for longer than that.  They usually work in NICU--the neonatal intensive care unit.  They can deal with any kind of disease or problem with newborns, from full-term infants with neonatal jaundice to very early preemies who have all kinds of problems.   There are neonatal surgeons, too, whose specialty is operating on very young infants.

Best of luck to you!

Answer 2

They are doctors who work with babies from birth (usually premature babies) to 29 days old (after their original due date). They work in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Answer 3

First of all, study your math. You will need tons of math. Then you need to be really good in Chem and biology. If you get like a 3.8 GPA in college, you can worry about med school, if not, you'll be destined to teach undergrad chem labs for 5 years, then do quality control at a paint plant. So think it thru before you plan it. Can you stick with it for 12 years after high school? Do you like chemistry enough to do that instead if you don't make it?