Taking care of newborns, living daily checkups, and dealing with depressed teenagers are all in a day’s job for a pediatrician. Pediatricians, a doctor that specializes with in the diagnosis and treatment of minors from birth to twenty-one years of age, has a hectic but rewarding job. It takes only not only good grades but also extreme dedication to succeed in this medical field. There are many different types of pediatricians and finding the right one is essential. Overall, life as a pediatric doctor is right for some people and it may be you. The road to becoming a pediatrician starts with selecting the right premedical college courses.
Although this may vary between different medical schools, theses are the minimum requirements for attending medical school: One to two years of Biology (8 to 14 semester hours) One year of Physics (8 semester hours) One year of English (6 semester hours) Two years of Chemistry, including one year of organic Chemistry (16 semester hours) One year of Calculus (6 semester hours) As one may have realized, it may be necessary to have a science major, preferably Biology. It might also be helpful to take classes in Biochemistry, Zoology, Anatomy, Statistics, Microbiology, Physiology, Immunology, Genetics, and Cell Physiology.
(Iannelli, “Premed Course Requirements”) With that in mind, one can still balance one’s own interests with the premed course requirement s for the school one is interested in attending when choosing a college major. Selecting the right classes during your four-year study in college is absolutely necessary. With this in mind, it is also critical to maintain the highest GPA possible in order to get into medical school. A 4. 0 would be ideal since medical schools are competitive to get accepted into. The term “medical school” may seem a bit frightening, but one must be sure to elect the right one in his or her path to becoming a pediatrician.
According to US News, Harvard has the highest ranking medical school, followed by University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University. In the category of pediatric medicine, U. S. News also ranked the University of Washington the number one medical school for primary care instruction for 16 consecutive years. The school of Medicine at UW-Seattle offers undergraduate and graduate medical education, including 13 pediatric programs. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is ranked as the number two medical school in the country for primary care instruction.
The Department of Pediatrics at UNC offers accredited residency programs for pediatric specialties. As far as undergraduate school goes, it’s more about how you do at a school than what school you attend. Of course, if you go to a community college high grades may not be as impressive to these prestigious graduate schools as high grades coming from an Ivy League, but there are many cases where students from lower ranking universities have gotten into very prestigious medical schools. Though pediatricians are not the best paid doctors, their average is significant.
At $135, 000 a year, it puts them into the top fifth percentile of salaries in the United States. Still, the debt that many students build up to get through school averages about $24,553 to $37,445 a year, depending on weather it is a public or private school. (Ianelli, “Becoming A Pediatrician”) With a $90,745 debt, it pays off to have a good salary once one becomes a pediatrician. One might build an impressive debt in medical school from student loans, but pediatricians have plenty of time to pay it off. The average starting salary fro primary care physicians is about $120,000-130,000 and up to $150,000-200,000 after only three years.
(Ianelli, “Becoming A Pediatrician) Since a pediatrician is concerned with the physical, emotional, and social health of children from birth to young adulthood, care encompasses a broad spectrum of health services ranging from preventive health care to the diagnosis and treatment of minor and chronic diseases. (Ianelli, “Becoming a Peditrician”) Pediatricians can receive training in the following sub specialties: Adolescent medicine Hospice and palliative medicine Medical toxicology Pediatric cardiology Pediatric gastoenterology Pediatric nephrology Pediatric rheumatology Pediatric sports medicine.
Since there are so many specialties to choose from, one can choose the one they most interest. Many current pediatricians specialize in one or more of these categories which help broaden their understanding in the patients and their needs. The average primary care pediatrician with a regular office, the day usually begins by going to the hospital to “make rounds” and seeing new babies and any sick kids that have been hospitalized. Next, office hours usually begin at 8:30 or 9:00 and continue until 4:00 or 5:00, with 1 to 1 ? hours for lunch. During that time, pediatricians see kids in the two basic types of appointments.
There are appointments for kids who are sick, like with an ear infection or poison ivy, and well child appointments, when kids get their checkups and shots. The average pediatrician sees about 127 patients a week, including those in the office and hospital. The AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) reported that the average pediatrician works an average of 50 hours per week. This includes time spent in the office, visiting patients in the hospital, doing paperwork, and being on call after-hours. Most pediatricians also take either a half day or full day off during the week.