Pediatricians are medical professionals who specialize in children’s care and diseases that affect children (from infancy and childhood to young adulthood).
They have caregiving responsibilities that include treating injuries, diagnosing and treating illnesses, administering vaccinations, and generally overseeing the well-being of the children.
The people who decide to be pediatricians as their primary career need to love being around children and provide the best possible care for children’s issues.
In the USA, pediatrics is one of the topmost specialties in healthcare, with thousands of jobs in all major hospitals and specialty clinics across the states.
That is why it is considered the highest-paying career in the USA, with various specializations under it. The 2 major types of healthcare services offered by general pediatricians include:
- Preventive health maintenance of healthy children
- Dedicated medical care for children with chronic illnesses
Pediatricians are also a great source of counseling and comfort for many parents who are worried about their kids.
Many parents turn to their pediatrician for advice and help regarding the mental and physical issues with their kids.
What Is The Average Salary For a Pediatrician in The USA?
The average salary for a pediatrician is $158/year (as of 2022). The total cash earnings of the pediatricians range from $110K to $219K on the high end.
Base Salary | $110k - $219k |
Bonus | $1k - $47k |
Profit Sharing | $5k - $61k |
Total Pay | $116k - $230k |
What Are The Responsibilities Of Pediatricians?
Pediatricians offer their broad skills and expertise to manage the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of kids (from infants to teenage children) at every developmental stage.
The age groups pediatricians usually serve are from babies to young adults, from 0 to 21 years of age.
The major responsibilities of pediatricians are to:
- Provide neonatal care
- Reduce child mortality rate
- Prevent and control early-life infectious disease
- Foster a healthy lifestyle to ensure the proper physical and cognitive development of kids
- Immunizations and ensuring developmental milestones
- Ease suffering caused by illnesses and provide relief to patients
- Educate parents and society about the essentials of childcare
The Job As A Pediatrician
When compared to the other domains of the healthcare industry, a pediatrician’s job is more challenging and demanding.
Most of the time, they face difficulties from the stage of the diagnosis itself as kids are less likely to express their difficulties and symptoms in understandable terms.
There are also limitations in administering diagnostic procedures and medications for the kids. It requires a high level of knowledge and expertise to succeed in a pediatrician’s job.
Expert pediatricians are in high demand in the healthcare industry, which makes it one of the top-paying jobs in America. They usually work during traditional business hours in small clinics, but many also may work in large hospitals.
Some common conditions pediatricians have to deal with include the following:
- Infections – which are very common, especially during the change of seasons.
- Injuries – being active and playful, children are prone to be injured.
- Genetic defects – Many of these can be fully cured by detecting them at early stages
- Organic diseases and psychosomatic dysfunction
- Malignancies (cancerous growths)
However, pediatricians are not just concerned about their patients’ physical well-being.
They also need to go a step ahead to critically administer early detection, prevention, and management of other crucial problems affecting children’s physical and mental well-being, including:
- Developmental disorders
- Behavioral difficulties
- Social stresses
- Functional and educational problems
- Anxiety and depression disorders, etc
Education Of Pediatricians
It usually takes over 10 years to become a pediatrician.
Starting from an average of 4 years to complete a bachelor’s degree, followed by another 4 years for general medical school graduation, and final 3-5 years of intensive primary care pediatric program are needed to complete an accredited pediatric residency program.
The residency training programs in hospitals and other care facilities emphasize practical training in infant, child, adolescent, and young adult care.
Following a residential program, pediatricians in the USA will be eligible for board certification by the American Board of Pediatrics on clearing the comprehensive written and practical examinations.
Re-certification is also required every 7 years.
Final Words
A child’s well-being can never be taken lightly. You can find a pediatric care clinic handy even in the least popular suburbs.
Among other major specialties, pediatrics demands more time and skills from healthcare providers. This puts pediatricians in high demand.
You can find pediatric sub-specialty services in all specialties as Adolescent Medicine, Cardiology, Emergency Medicine, Critical Care, Endocrinology, Infectious Diseases, Gastroenterology, Hematology/Oncology, Nephrology, Rheumatology, Pulmonology, etc. All these make pediatrics the highest-paying job in the USA.