What does a Neonatologist do?
A neonatologist is a person who provides care to a newborn baby. Duties of this position are; diagnosing and treating newborns with conditions they may be suffering from, coordinating medical care of newborns that are born with health complications, dealing with high-risk neonatal situations that are not handled by a pediatrician, consulting with the obstetrician if health challenges facing the infant are identified prior to birth, ensuring children receive proper nutrition to ensure proper growth and stabilize and treat the newborns with critical health status.
Neonatologist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real neonatologist resumes:
- Obtain medical history and perform physical examinations of patients and initiate treatment, investigations and follow up treatment including counseling.
- Assist with PICU patients as needed.
- Conduct medical examinations, diagnose conditions, and perform treatments on respiratory and infectious disease patients.
- Assist in major elective and emergency surgeries such as appendectomies, exploratory laparotomy, thyroid surgery, hysterectomy and cesarean operations.
- Develop CPOE order sets for the NICU and assisting in pediatric pharmacological order sets.
Neonatologist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 32% of Neonatologists are proficient in Level II, Ventilation, and Patient Care. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Detail oriented, and Leadership skills.
We break down the percentage of Neonatologists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Level II, 32%
Developed policies and protocols supportive of critically ill infants requiring Level II Neonatal Intensive Care.
- Ventilation, 25%
Use of equipment for mechanical ventilation in the recovery room post- anesthesia.
- Patient Care, 17%
Utilized interpersonal skills to maximize excellence in customer service, safe patient care, confidentiality and professionalism.
- Picu, 8%
Assisted with PICU patients as needed.
- Pediatric Residents, 5%
Performed lectures to 3rd year medical students and pediatric residents.
- Critical Care, 3%
Participated in the second Jordanian Critical Care Conference.
Common skills that a neonatologist uses to do their job include "level ii," "ventilation," and "patient care." You can find details on the most important neonatologist responsibilities below.
Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a neonatologist to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "physicians and surgeons need to be excellent communicators." Neonatologists often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "collaborated with senior physicians for communication with patients and their family members. "
Detail oriented. Another essential skill to perform neonatologist duties is detail oriented. Neonatologists responsibilities require that "patients must receive appropriate treatment and medications." Neonatologists also use detail oriented in their role according to a real resume snippet: "conducted detailed research and analysis to patients' responses to drug therapies. "
Leadership skills. neonatologists are also known for leadership skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to neonatologist responsibilities, because "physicians who work in their own practice must manage a staff of other professionals." A neonatologist resume example shows how leadership skills is used in the workplace: "provided leadership skills involving managing, planning and motivating physicians to serve their patients. "
Physical stamina. A big part of what neonatologists do relies on "physical stamina." You can see how essential it is to neonatologist responsibilities because "physicians and surgeons should be comfortable lifting or turning disabled patients, or performing other physical tasks." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical neonatologist tasks: "obtained medical history and performed physical examinations of patients and initiated treatment, investigations and follow up treatment including counseling. "
The three companies that hire the most neonatologists are:
- MMEDNAX63 neonatologists jobs
- UUniversity of Florida8 neonatologists jobs
- KKPG6 neonatologists jobs
Compare different neonatologists
Neonatologist vs. Resident physician
A Resident Physician participates in a program of graduate medical education and training in a specialized area of medicine. They work with other members of the healthcare team to provide direct medical care to patients.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between neonatologists and resident physician. For instance, neonatologist responsibilities require skills such as "level ii," "ventilation," "patient care," and "ecmo." Whereas a resident physician is skilled in "patients," "family medicine," "ob," and "medical education." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Resident physicians earn the highest salaries when working in the health care industry, with an average yearly salary of $71,876. On the other hand, neonatologists are paid more in the health care industry with an average salary of $187,993.On average, resident physicians reach similar levels of education than neonatologists. Resident physicians are 1.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 8.8% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Neonatologist vs. Hospital fellow
A pulmonary physician specializes in diagnosing and treating respiratory and cardiopulmonary health issues. They provide consultations when it comes to health concerns, conduct various assessments and examinations to identify the patients' conditions, study medical histories, develop care and treatment plans, prescribe medication, and educate patients throughout the procedures. There are also instances when they must refer patients to other specialists, recommend interventions, and participate in research programs to discover new treatment methods. Furthermore, a pulmonary physician must provide advice and support to patients, helping them feel comfortable every step of the way.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, neonatologist responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "neonatology," "level ii," "ventilation," and "patient care." Meanwhile, a hospital fellow has duties that require skills in areas such as "acute care," "hospital operations," "surgery," and "mph." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Hospital fellows earn similar levels of education than neonatologists in general. They're 2.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 8.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Neonatologist vs. Pulmonary physician
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, neonatologists are more likely to have skills like "neonatology," "level ii," "patient care," and "picu." But a pulmonary physician is more likely to have skills like "emr," "bed hospital," "critical care position," and "acute care hospital."
Pulmonary physicians make a very good living in the health care industry with an average annual salary of $205,661. On the other hand, neonatologists are paid the highest salary in the health care industry, with average annual pay of $187,993.pulmonary physicians typically earn similar educational levels compared to neonatologists. Specifically, they're 3.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 39.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Neonatologist vs. Cardiovascular disease specialist
Even though a few skill sets overlap between neonatologists and cardiovascular disease specialists, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a neonatologist might have more use for skills like "neonatology," "ventilation," "ecmo," and "picu." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of cardiovascular disease specialists require skills like "patient appointments," "lab projects," "disease management," and "diabetes. "
The average resume of cardiovascular disease specialists showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to neonatologists. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 0.3% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 40.6%.Types of neonatologist
Updated January 8, 2025
