Pediatrician

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Work Tasks

PEDIATRICIANS plan and carry out medical care programs for children, from birth through age 21, to aid in their physical, mental, and emotional growth and development. Their areas of concern and responsibility include: infectious diseases, hospital care of children, school health problems, accident prevention, nutrition, newborn care, environmental hazards, children with disabilities, pediatric pharmacology, and cardiology. They specialize in caring for the whole child. Pediatricians look at physical, mental, and social health. They keep track of growth, family, school, friends, and anything else that might affect a child's overall health.

Salary, Size & Growth

• $192,000 average per year ($92.25 per hour)
• A medium occupation (30,100 workers in 2010)
• Expected to grow rapidly (2.2% per year)

Entry Requirements

All states require PEDIATRICIANS to be licensed before they can practice medicine. Requirements include graduation from an accredited medical school, completion of a licensing examination, and up to seven years of supervised practice in an accredited graduate medical education program (internship/residency). A final examination immediately after residency, or after one or two years of practice, is also necessary for board certification by the American Board of Medical Specialists (ABMS). For certification in a sub-specialty, pediatricians usually need another one to two years of residency.