Pediatrician

Emma Knox's Page <3  Pediatrician Job Description 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. The work day depends because there are different branches of pediatrics, but for 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 am and continue until 4:00 or 5:00 pm, with 1 to 1 1/2 hours for lunch. During that time, pediatricians see kids in 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. And the average pediatrician sees about 127 patients a week, including those in the office and hospital. The AAP reports 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 1/2 day or full day off during the week.  Personality Characteristics  Working Conditions Pediatricians work for:
 * a desire to work with children
 * a desire to help the sick and injured
 * a good bedside manner
 * an ability to survive the pressures and long hours of medical education
 * patience and understanding
 * self-motivation
 * an ability to make decisions in emergencies
 * good communication skills
 * a willingness to study throughout their career to keep up with changes in their field
 * emotional stability
 * flexibility to respond to changing demands of a rapidly evolving health environment
 * a private practice
 * hospitals, community healthcare centers, clinics, and other healthcare facilities
 * health maintenance organizations
 * the government
 * the military
 * colleges and universities
 * research laboratories

While physicians have traditionally been solo practitioners, a growing number are partners or salaried employees of group practices. Organized as clinics or as groups of physicians, they can afford expensive medical equipment and realize other business advantages. Pediatricians usually work in offices and examining rooms. Many pediatricians must travel frequently between office and hospital to care for patients. They may also visit patients at home.

Possible health effects for a pediatrician would be developing a possible infectious disease from their patients. One of the biggest complaints is working long and irregular hours. And of course pediatricians don't like it when sick kids don't get better, but fortunately that doesn't happen very often. Also it can be difficult to deal with insurance companies and HMOs.

Places of Employment “There is a significant difference in distribution of pediatricians across the country,” said Dr. Freed, who is also director of Michigan’s division of pediatrics. “This is not to say children don’t receive healthcare from primary physicians, but this uneven distribution of pediatricians doesn’t provide parents with the choice of whether their kids can receive care from a pediatric sub-specialist.” Family practitioners often step in to fill the void left by a less robust pediatrician population in smaller cities. According to the study which was published in Pediatrics, pediatricians flock to more populated states, leading to high pediatrician-to-child ratios in select areas. For example, Massachusetts and New York have 165 and 154 pediatricians per 100,000 children, respectively. Inversely, South Dakota, Wyoming and Idaho have the fewest number of pediatricians per 100,000 children with 41, 35 and 28, respectively.

South Dakota: 41 Iowa: 49 North Dakota: 52 Indiana: 58 Kansas: 59 Nebraska: 67 Wisconsin: 72 Minnesota: 74 Michigan: 78 Missouri: 82 Illinois: 91 Ohio: 93 || **Northeast**: Maine: 72 New Hampshire: 78 Pennsylvania: 94 Connecticut: 127 Vermont: 127 New Jersey: 131 Rhode Island: 146 New York: 154 Massachusetts: 165 || **South**: Mississippi: 48 Oklahoma: 49 Arkansas: 66 Alabama: 67 Texas: 67 South Carolina: 68 Georgia: 71 Kentucky: 76 West Virginia: 79 Louisiana: 87 North Carolina: 87 Florida: 89 Virginia: 94 Tennessee: 95 Delaware: 104 Maryland & DC: 160 || **West**: Idaho: 28 Wyoming: 35 Montana: 43 Nevada: 48 Alaska: 51 Utah: 61 Oregon: 64 Arizona: 66 New Mexico: 66 Washington: 71 Colorado: 75 California: 82 Hawaii: 118 || Most pediatrician jobs could be found within two hours at a local hosipital or a private practice.  Job Outlook In general, pediatrics has a pretty strong future. As long as people have babies, there will be a need for pediatricians to take care of them. So the outlook for pediatricians is very good and there continues to be a need for them in some rural areas.  Salary Information Estimated Salary: • Economic Research Institute (survey of salaries in 2008): National average for all occupations included in this survey: $46,000/year or $22.00/hour Recommended Education and Training Pediatricians are among the most demanding of any occupation; 4 years of undergraduate school, 4 years of medical school, and 3 to 8 years of internship and residency, depending on the specialty selected. Premedical students must complete undergraduate work in physics, biology, mathematics, English, and organic and inorganic chemistry. Students also take courses in the humanities and the social sciences. Some students volunteer at local hospitals or clinics to gain experience in the health professions. The minimum educational requirement for entry into medical school is 3 years of college; most applicants, however, have at least a bachelor's degree, and many have advanced degrees. Acceptance to medical school is highly competitive. Applicants must submit transcripts, scores from the Medical College Admission Test, and letters of recommendation. Following medical school, almost all physicians enter residency.  <span style="font-size: 90%; color: #000000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All states require pediatricians to be licensed before they can practice medicine. To be licensed, physicians must graduate from an accredited medical school, pass a licensing examination, and complete 1 to 7 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.
 * Number of Pediatricians per 100,000 Children:
 * **Midwest**:
 * |||| National |||| Pennsylvania ||
 * ^  || Per year || Per hour || Per year || Per hour ||
 * Starting salary || $114,000 || $54.75 || $118,500 || $57.00 ||
 * Average salary || $158,500 || $76.25 || $165,000 || $79.25 ||
 * Salary with experience || $190,000 || $91.25 || $197,500 || $95.00 ||





__Work__
 * "Becoming a Pediatrician." __About Pediatrics - Pediatric Parenting and Medical Advice__. 30 Apr. 2009 [].
 * "Being a Pediatrician -." __DrGreene.com__. 30 Apr. 2009 [].
 * "Being a Pediatrician." __About Pediatrics - Pediatric Parenting and Medical Advice__. 30 Apr. 2009 [].
 * "AAMC Reporter November 2004: Pediatricians Becoming Scarce in Select Areas." __AAMC: Association of American Medical Colleges : Tomorrow's Doctors. Tomorrow's Cures.__ 30 Apr. 2009 [].
 * "DISCOVER." __ACT : Information for Life's Transitions__. 30 Apr. 2009 <http://actapps.act.org/eDISCOVER/1_1.jsp This website requires a username/password to access it. []

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