Exploring Pediatrics as a Career

These resources will help a middle school or high school student who is thinking about becoming a pediatrician.

• The American Academy of Pediatrics publishes a 32-page booklet (in pdf format) called Peds 101, which is an excellent introduction to a career as a pediatrician.


• The American Academy of Pediatrics YoungPeds Network is a young pediatrician-driven Web site that contains all the links and resources of interest to the newest generation of physicians!


• The US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook gives an overview of physicians at Physicians and Surgeons. Pediatricians are mentioned in the text. Osteopathic physicians and medical doctors are considered equivalent.


• One might also consider Physician Assistants or Registered Nurses, including nurse practitioners, as a career choice in pediatrics.


• About.com has a page with a number of resources called Becoming a Pediatrician.


• The American Association of Medical Colleges provides information on medical school requirements in the United States and Canada, to help plan college courses at Medical Schools. You can be an English major, for example, and go to medical school. You DO have to be sure that you take the courses required to be admitted, like physical sciences.


• Information about combining Pediatrics and Internal Medicine, called Med-Peds, is a collaboration of the American College of Physicians, the American Society of Internal Medicine, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, Section on Medicne-Pediatrics. The pdf file "The Med-Peds Job Search" focuses on Finding a Med-Peds Position: Med-Peds Career Options on page 6.