Final answer:
A pediatric patient is generally someone who is less than 18 years old, which includes infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, and pre-adolescence stages of development.
Step-by-step explanation:
The definition of a pediatric patient can vary slightly based on context, but generally, it is recognized biologically that childhood encompasses the stages from birth until adolescence. These stages can be further broken down into infancy, which is the first year of life, followed by early childhood (one to five years), middle childhood (six to ten years), and pre-adolescence (11-12 years).
Legally, childhood refers to the period up until the age of majority, which may vary depending on the region but is often considered 18 years. Since pediatric care tends to focus on individuals from birth through the teenage years, a pediatric patient is typically defined as being less than 18 years old.
A patient is considered a pediatric patient if he or she is between the ages of birth and 18 years, as this period covers infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, and pre-adolescence, and aligns with the legal definition of childhood.