By: Briana Nelson
When Chetna Vasishth asked Dr. Indu Khosla why she wanted to become a doctor, Khosla responded with a very honest answer: “Because my parents wanted me to be one.” Throughout her career as a pediatrician, Dr. Khosla has learned that you need to “become passionate about what you do, because sometimes, life doesn't give you choices.” For a lot of us teenagers, we find ourselves in Khosla’s situation. With the constant pressure to figure out what we want to do with our lives, we look to our parents for guidance. A lot of the time their responses are along the lines of, “Go be a doctor. You’ll be set for life.” However, to live a fulfilling life as a doctor, you should know what it entails. In the next few paragraphs, I’m going to be diving into the career of a specific type of doctor: a pediatrician; specifically, what it takes to get there, what this career asks of you, what education is required, and more!
But first, what is a pediatrician? A pediatrician is a type of doctor that looks after children. As they go through infancy, childhood, and adolescence, pediatricians make sure everything is developing correctly, so that the patient grows up happy and healthy. These doctors oversee the development through checkups, immunizations, prescriptions, x-rays, notes, and treatment of the patient when they are unwell. Additionally, pediatricians need to be able to communicate to parents about their children’s health. They may have to do some administration work, such as phone calls, filing, and more.
In order to become a pediatrician, you need to acquire a Bachelor's degree, complete medical school, and then complete a Pediatric Residency Program. This adds up to around 8 years of college and 3 years at residency. Thankfully, pediatricians are usually always in demand so once you have the training you will most likely have an easier time finding a job.
“Having a good support system during your training and practice is very helpful,” pediatrician Mitzi Scotten said. “It took seven years from the start of medical school to the end of my pediatric training and my first pediatric career position.”
As you can probably tell, becoming a pediatrician takes a lot of work and comes with lots of challenges. A child’s life is in your hands, so you need to be meticulous in your craft and passionate about what you do. You will most likely be working full time, which is about 40 hours a week, and while the salary is sustainable, in comparison to other doctors it is below average. If you’re looking for a high salary, and a luxurious lifestyle, then pediatrics isn’t for you. However, the gratification you experience when helping a child and watching them grow into an incredible, healthy adult is priceless. If you truly love being a pediatrician, the salary will allow you to live comfortably while doing what you love.
“Expect that there will be setbacks of all kinds including personal relationship loss and financial loss and that in the end you will only be happy if you believe in yourself and can challenge yourself every day to learn more and to do your best,” Dr Scotten said. “Being a pediatrician is for someone who has a passion to help others and to see the best and worst in other people.”
Pediatricians should be compassionate, confident, decisive, passionate, and hardworking since they will be dealing with a lot of people and experiencing a lot of pressure. If you can see yourself becoming a pediatrician - get involved! There are so many incredible ways you can learn more about public health, from joining organizations such as Giving a Ray of Hope, to taking health science courses at your school, or even just talking to a pediatrician you may know! If this is something you are interested in you can make it happen.
“A profession has stresses, stresses of the amount of hours you need to work, but within it, embedded, are relaxations,” Dr. Khosla said. “The joy when you treat a patient, the joy when you identify life threatening conditions early and help the patient survive, I think that's the biggest de-stressor.”
Comentarios