Pediatrician

Education and Qualification

Most medical schools require applicants to have a minimum of two to three years of university education. After graduating from medical school, a doctor who wishes to become a pediatrician must complete at least three years of special training in health care for children, also known as residency program (work experience). The doctor can then become a certified pediatrician by passing an examination given by a pediatrics specialty board.

Many pediatricians take two to three years of additional training in a particular area of pediatrics. Some specialties are pediatric surgery, pediatric infectious diseases, pediatric hematology-oncology, and neonatal-prenatal medicine. Aside from the training, the pediatrician must also complete medical licensing exams such as certification by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC).

Other qualifications of a pediatrician are compassion, patience, and love for children. Pediatricians must also have good communication skills. They have to be able to listen to parents and give them advice about their child.

Shores Pediatrics

March 30, 2011. The IDF doctors were called to tre...

English: GEORGETOWN, Guyana (Sept. 26, 2007) - Cmd...

If a pediatrician is not able to communicate with people in this profession, he or she will never make it far.

Duties and Responsibilities

A pediatrician's first responsibility is to diagnose illnesses. He or she does this by examining the patient, obtaining the patient's medical histories, and ordering special tests such as X-rays. Next, he or she recommends treatment programs that may involve medication, rehabilitation, surgery, or advice about exercise and nutrition.

During the treatment process, the pediatrician communicates with family members and health care professionals such as nurses. When appropriate, the pediatrician may refer patients to specialists, who are experts in medical fields. Those people include cardiologists, psychiatrists, surgeons, and many more.

Salary and Rewards

Pediatricians have among the highest earnings of any occupations. Earnings vary according to the number of year in practice, hours...