When a family physician is unable to diagnose an infection, a specialist is required to treat the condition. These specialists are called Infectious Disease specialists. Read on to know more.
Infectious diseases, if not diagnosed at the right time, may aggravate to severe levels causing death of the patient. Since every medical problem is unique in itself, the need of specialists and experts for every case is vital. An infectious disease (ID) specialist is a medical professional who is entrusted with the job of providing diagnosis of an infection and remedial measures for the same.
Job Description
ID specialists work towards finding the root cause of an infection. They also perform medical check ups and diagnosis of people visiting other countries to avoid the spread of any disease. Effective patient care also forms one of their tasks. ID specialists carry out a number of medical procedures to arrive at any conclusion. X-rays, analysis of medical data, laboratory reports, blood sample, swab and urine samples are studied to find various types of conditions that can spread easily. There are various branches of this profession like pediatric infectious disease specialist that specifically treats infections in kids and children. Owing to a relatively weaker immune system, kids are more prone to infections than adults and so a pediatric ID specialist plays a vital role in such cases. Along with suggesting numerous therapy options to treat any specific illness, an ID specialist also provides treatments in the form of antibiotics and numerous other medications. In case a patient acquires any infection during his hospital stay, the ID specialist will work with hospital care unit to treat it.
Earning Potential
These professionals can easily earn anywhere between USD63,000 to USD200,000 during their entire career. Certainly, a salary of USD60,000 is commanded by freshers in this field and salary as high as USD200,000 is earned by those having 20 or more years of work experience.
Almost 4 years of medical school, 3 years of training as an internal medicine doctor and then 2 or 3 years of specialized training makes one eligible to become an ID specialist. Moreover, to gain professional experience, an ID specialist is also required to pass the American Board of Internal Medicine exams for getting certifications.