Docs who help you breathe easy

Gauri Chhabra

Over the past few years, the onset of winter is accompanied by a thick layer of smog that covers the atmosphere leading to worsening air pollution. This leads to a sharp rise in cases of chest and throat diseases. The rise has occurred despite steady improvements in medical care and nutrition. The high level of respiratory diseases in India has been a matter of concern since long. This has increased the requirement of trained Pulmonologists.

Work profile

Pulmonologist also known as Pulmonary Disease Specialist is a medical practitioner specialised in the field of pulmonary (lungs) medicine - a sub-specialty of internal medicine. These specialist doctors are trained for diagnosis and treatment of diseases, disorders and abnormalities of the lungs and cardiopulmonary system consisting of heart, lungs, blood vessels and all the organs 

that work together to help a person breathe, in order to take in oxygen required for the oxygenation of the blood.

Pulmonologists are involved in the treatment of breathing disorders. However, they are also capable of prescribing medication for problems like sleep disorders, severe allergies, and other lung conditions and diseases besides providing critical care medicine while treating patients in the ICU.

Getting in 

One can go in for an MD (Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine) after completing the MBBS degree course and one years and six months compulsory training. MD is a two-year postgraduate programme that focuses on interstitial lung disease, pulmonary vascular disease, heart- lung and lung transplantation and non-tuberculoses myco-bacterial disease. It also provides pre-operative evaluations and comprehensive pulmonary functional testing. While doing the course, you would learn whole range of diagnostic and therapeutic and procedures associated with the practice of pulmonary and critical care medicine: flexible fibre optic bronchoscopy with all ancillary procedures, thoracentesis and closed pleural biopsy, endo-tracheal intubation, arterial and central vein line placement, bedside pulmonary vein catheterization and chest tube placement. 

Career prospects

There is a need for pulmonologists in government hospitals like PGI and AIIMS, besides in private hospitals like Apollo, Fortis etc. One may also go in for teaching and research in medical colleges. 

You may also carve a niche for yourself in Interventional pulmonology (IP) - a maturing sub-specialty of pulmonary medicine focused on advanced diagnostic and therapeutic pulmonary and thoracic medical procedures for a variety of illnesses. This rapidly growing field requires highly specific knowledge and skill sets beyond its parent specialty. While the future of IP will continue to show growth, we postulate on a few upcoming technologies which may influence the field and discuss some of the challenges associated with growth in IP.

Therefore, if you wish to get into a career that rides high on the environmental hazards and also is one of the most in demand careers, pulmonary specialist is the right option for you.