Career As Pediatrician

Paediatrics is the branch of Medical Courses that deals with the health care of babies, children, adolescents, and young adults from birth to age 21 years.

A medical practitioner who specializes in this area is known as a Pediatrician.

“A pediatrician is children’s specialists who diagnoses and treats injuries, dysfunctions, malignancies, infections, genetic defects and organic diseases.”

The word pediatrics comes from the Greek that means “healer of children”.

They also treat an organic disease & various other ailments such as jaundice, tuberculosis, typhoid & growth related disorders.

Pediatric doctor (Pediatricians) guides & counsels the children and their parents or guardians regarding hygiene, diet and disease prevention.

Pediatricians are physicians that provide care for infants, children, teenagers, and young adults. They specialize in diagnosing and treating problems specific to younger people. Most pediatricians treat common illnesses, minor injuries, and infectious diseases, and administer vaccinations.

In ancient India, the children’s doctors were called as kumara bhrtya.

Abraham Jacobi is known as the father of pediatrics because of his contribution in this field.

Scope

Pediatric is one of the branches of medicine in which diagnosis and health related issue is solved by the pediatrician. It is one of the promising careers among medical courses. In this profession candidates can find lucrative job profiles in India or overseas. Because of large number of growing of hospitals and health care centres, the demand of pediatrician is also increasing day by day.

Aspirants can find jobs in medical colleges or training institutes as lecturers or research scholar. Another career option for pediatricians is working in clinics, medical centers and research laboratories. Candidates can work both in private and government hospitals on a regular basis. You can also work as a practitioner in research centres. You can join military service, Railways and various other public sectors in medical departments.

Course & Duration

How I Become a Pediatrician?

To become a Pediatrician, you have to complete your Bachelor and Master’s degree.

Also Check – Medical Courses

In India, most of the universities offer undergraduate & postgraduate level courses in the field of pediatrics. You have to pursue MBBS + MD degree in Pediatrics to become a Pediatrician.

Bachelor Courses:

• Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS): It is 5 ½ year duration programme.

Master Courses:

• Doctor of Medicine (MD): The duration of this course is two years.

You can also pursue fellowship training from various specializations in pediatric fields, but it will require additional years of certification and training.

Specializations of pediatric fields are:

• Child abuse pediatrics
• Child neurology
• Pediatric critical care
• Neonatology
• Pediatric oncology
• Adolescent medicine
• Pediatric cardiology
• Pediatric endocrinology
• Pediatric gastroenterology

Skill required becoming a pediatrician:

• Discipline & Patience
• Love children and understand their behavior
• Good communication skills and keen observation
• A playful manner around children
• Self-confidence
• A big reserve of patience

Duties of the Pediatrician:

• The duty of the pediatrician is to treat infants and children.
• Your duty is to provide medical care to the patients and new born babies.
• They examine, treat and diagnoses the children with a wide range of injuries and illness.

Admission

Also Check: Popular Courses After 12th Science

How I get admission into Pediatrics course?

Students who appear/pass the 12^th examination with Physics, Chemistry & Biology, they have to qualify the national level entrance exam NEET 2024. After qualifying NEET, candidates will get admission in 5 yrs MBBS programme. After completing the MBBS degree candidates can appear in PG medical entrance exams like AIIMS PG 2024, NEET PG 2024, JIPMER PG 2024, INI CET 2024, INI SS 2024 etc. Through these examination, students will get admission in 3 years MDS course in which candidates can choose MD (Pediatrics) to pursue career as a Pediatrician.

After passing MBBS degree, students have pass three years MD (Pediatrics). For admission in post-graduate course, the student has to appear in Post Graduate Medical entrance  which AIIMS PG, NEET PG. Some universities also offer admission on the basis of the marks secured in MBBS programme + work experience.

In India, various colleges & universities offer courses in Pediatrics. Most of the universities provide courses at the postgraduate level (Doctor of Medicine). After completing this course, students can start their career as a Pediatrician in India.

Top Colleges that offer study in Pediatrics:

• All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi
• Armed Forces Medical College, Pune
• Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University, Pune
• Aligarh Muslim University, UP
• Netaji Subash Chandra Bose Medical College, Jabalpur
• Moti Lal Nehru Medical College, UP
• B.R. Ambedkar Medical College, Bangalore

Career & Jobs

In present time, pediatrics is one of the most prominent career options in India. The demand of proficient and talented pediatricians in this field is growing day by day. If you have an obsession for children and tolerance to analyze their problems then a healthcare profession in pediatrics is right for you.

Where do pediatricians work?

Pediatricians or child specialists have different career options that, they can be taken. They work in a number of environments such as in government & private hospitals. Pediatricians can also work in medical centers, clinics & research laboratories. They can also make their career in Railways, military service and various other public sector medical departments. The pediatrician can also work as teacher in medical colleges or training institution. They can also work as an independent practitioner.

How many hours does a pediatrician work?

To become a successful pediatrician, student has to be physically & mentally fit for working hours. Each pediatrician has different working hours according to their job profile. On average base, a pediatrician can work 50 hours per week.

Salary & Payscale

Starting salary of the Pediatrician depends upon the qualification of the candidate, experiences and standard & level of the Hospital & organization with which they associated. In the government sector, Pediatrician can earn Rs. 45,000 to Rs. 50,000 as a beginner level practitioner. Those working at the senior level, they will earn a salary between Rs. 11 lakhs to Rs. 12 lakhs per year.

In Private sector, the starting salary of the Pediatrician is Rs. 7 lakh to Rs 8 lakh per annum. At the senior level, pediatricians can earn a salary package of Rs. 20 lakh to Rs. 35 lakh every year.

Beside this, one can set-up their own dispensary or child care centre.

Books & Study Material

• Becoming a Pediatrician by Daniel Schumacher
• Child Injury Prevention by David C. Schwebel
• Autism Spectrum Disorder by Michael Fitzgerald
• Babies A to Z by Warwick Carter
• Pediatric Oral Pathology by Kavita Kholi
• Paediapaedia: An Imaging Encyclopedia of Pediatric Disease by Michael P. D’Alessandro
• Pediatric Common Questions Quick Answers by Donna M. D’Alessandro, Lindsay Huth, Susan Kinzer

For more information about Pediatrician, you can ask your questions below.