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Endocrinologist
Treats hormone-related disorders — diabetes, thyroid disease, growth disorders, and more.
Did you know?
Insulin, isolated in Toronto in 1921 by Frederick Banting and Charles Best, was the first peptide hormone ever discovered.
How subjects help
- Biology: Understand how glands send hormones through the blood to control growth and energy.
- Chemistry: Measure hormone levels in blood tests to find a thyroid gland that is too slow or fast.
- Mathematics: Help a patient with diabetes balance insulin doses against the food they eat.
A famous name
Elliott P. Joslin: First US doctor to specialise in diabetes; founded what is now the Joslin Diabetes Center.
Try it yourself: Take your pulse like a nurse
- Put two fingers (not your thumb) on the inside of your wrist, below your thumb, until you feel a beat.
- Count the beats for 15 seconds, then multiply by 4. That is your resting heart rate per minute.
- If you can, do 20 star jumps, then count again straight away.
- Check every minute until it is back to where it started. How long did it take?
Nurses, doctors and paramedics take a pulse all day: it is one of the quickest ways to tell how a body is coping.
Also try: Check a medicine label (a made-up one).
Known for it in
USA, UK, Australia, Germany, France