What makes a paediatric endocrinologist?
A paediatric endocrinologist is a clinician who has special expertise in looking after children and young people with hormone disorders. These can affect growth or pubertal development and have significant effects on a child’s physical and emotional wellbeing.
The conditions managed can include normal variations in growth and puberty; over or under activity of the pituitary, thyroid and adrenal glands; endocrine-related obesity; more complex disorders of sex development; and metabolic bone disease.
Paediatric endocrinologists link closely with other tertiary specialties, including surgeons, gynaecologists, geneticists and adult endocrinologists, to provide coordinated and comprehensive care. Many paediatric endocrinologists are actively involved in clinical research.
Paediatric endocrinologists are also involved in managing children and young people with diabetes mellitus. This entails developing expertise in optimising blood glucose control to minimise future complications, intensive insulin regimes, continuous glucose monitoring systems (CGMS), and continuous subcutaneous insulin infusions (CSII).
Training in this sub-specialty
Paediatricians in the UK start their training in general paediatrics, and at the final level of training (level 3), some choose to train in a paediatric sub-specialty, such as paediatric diabetes and endocrinology.
The RCPCH Progress curriculum provides a framework for paediatric training, and outlines the Learning Outcomes and Key Capabilities required at each stage before attaining the Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT).
The syllabi support the curriculum with further guidance on how the Learning Outcomes can be achieved and demonstrated. Those in sub-specialty training use two syllabi, which are part of the RCPCH Progress curriculum:
- Level 3 generic syllabus (for all level 3 trainees)
- Sub-specialty syllabus.
In 2021 we made some some enhancements to the paediatric diabetes and endocrinology sub-specialty syllabus, which were approved by the General Medical Council (GMC) for use as of August/September 2021. The version you use depends when you plan to CCT:
- If you will CCT by 15 September 2022, you'll use version 1
- If you will CCT on or after 15 September 2022, you'll use version 2.