Career Paper

The career I chose to research is a pediatrician. I already know a little bit about this career because I am interested in pursuing it. A pediatrician is a doctor who specializes with working with children. I know that to become a pediatrician it involves going through a lot of schooling. You must go through four years of undergraduate and 4 years of medical school. After graduating from medical school, you must go through years of residency before becoming a pediatrician. I know pediatricians make a good living, but I am not sure exactly how much they make. I believe they do not start making a lot of money until after their years of residency is over. My questions are how many years of residency does a pediatrician typically have, exactly how much money do pediatricians make, and when do they begin to make this amount of money?

A pediatrician is a children’s physician who provides preventive health care for healthy children and medical care for children who are acutely or chronically ill. Pediatricians deal with the physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing of their patients from birth to the age of 21. Pediatricians diagnose and treat injuries, infections, genetic defects, and organic diseases and dysfunctions. Pediatricians are not only concerned with the physical well being of their patients, but also things like behavioral difficulties, developmental disorders, functional problems, social stresses, and depression or anxiety disorders. Pediatrics is considered a specialty but it has subspecialties within it. Subspecialties include cardiology, critical care medicine, infectious disease, endocrinology, etc.

In order to become a pediatrician, you must go through many years of schooling. Four years of undergraduate school is required, and during these four years you want to major in areas of studies like biology, chemistry, biochemistry, physics, or different pre-medicine programs. After four years of undergraduate, a test called the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) must be taken. This test along with college GPA, work experience, and volunteer experience will determine admission to medical school. Medical school is very competitive to get into, so applicants should start working on their resumes early in undergraduate school. After graduating from medical school, three years of residency is required.

Pediatricians have a very good job outlook and availability. As long as the population continues to grow so will the need for pediatricians. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts there will be a 22% increase in the need for pediatricians from 2008 to 2018. There is especially a need for pediatricians who specialize in surgery.

A pediatrician’s salary depends on factors like what kind of institution they are working at (hospital, private practice, or public sector), location of job, specialization, years of experience, and the size of the institution. The average hourly wage is $85 per hour, which comes to an annual salary of around $177,000. The highest 10th percentile earns up to $230,000 per year. Mississippi is one of the top paying states for a pediatrician.

The information I discovered in my research about pediatricians matches up with the information I already knew. I did discover things I did not know, and my questions have been answered. I did not realize the different factors that affect a pediatricians salary, for example the state in which the job is located. My research told me pediatricians go through three years of residency, make $100,000 to $230,000, and start making this money after their residency. After researching this career field, I am still interested in becoming a pediatrician. It takes a lot of schooling and hard work, but I believe the job is well worth it. I would not want to be a primary care pediatrician; instead, I would want to specialize in pediatric surgery. Before I specialize in surgery, I would work as a primary care pediatrician for a few years.

I have taken all the right classes in high school to prepare me to major in biology with an emphasis in pre-medicine. Some of these classes include physical science, biology, chemistry, college chemistry, physics, and multiple math classes. After I graduate from high school, I have a 12-year plan to prepare me to become a pediatrician. My 12-year plan starts with four years of undergraduate studies. During these four years I will pursue a major in biology with an emphasis in pre-med. I will also try to get a job at a hospital and do volunteer work.

My sophomore year of college I want to do a mission trip where I will do volunteer work at an orphanage and hopefully get to shadow a doctor at the hospital. My junior year I will take the MCAT and hopefully score well. After I graduate form college, I plan to spend a year in Africa to experience, volunteer work, and on the job training at the hospital. Then I will apply and hopefully get accepted to medical school. After four years of medical school, I will apply for different residency job openings and complete three years of residency. After successfully completing my residency, I will become a certified pediatrician.