Doctor

​ So, You Wanna Be a...

**Pediatrician?!?!** Being a pediatrician is very difficult, but at the same time rewarding and fun. To become a pediatrician, you must go through long, extremely difficult schooling, but you are eventually rewarded with a great, respected, high-paid job. Pediatricians are doctors who specialize in babies and children. Doctors are people who use science to figure out what is wrong with their patients and maintain their health. Doctors are very important to society. People need pediatricians to tell how badly their child is sick, what they are sick with, adn how they can cure it. Pediatricians save many lives every day. As well as sick visits, pediatricians give annual checkups.

Responsibilites: With this job comes a lot of responsibility and hard work. Here are some of the responsibilites and tasks you will have to fulfill to become a pediatrician. media type="custom" key="6347421"media type="custom" key="6347445"
 * Planning and carring out a medical care program from children from when they are born to when they become an adolescent that will help in both mental and physical growth
 * Talking to the patient and their parents/caregivers about their medical and/or developmental problems
 * Studying a patient's medical history
 * Examining a patient to determine whether they or sick or not and running tests
 * Using these tests and examinations to decide on appropriate treatment
 * Prescribing medicine and other treatment
 * Carrying out certain procedures for care such as attaching life-supporting equipment
 * Monitoring whether or not the treatment worked
 * Advising caregivers on health care programs
 * Investigating the causes of diseases
 * Working long hours, especially when they first start off


 * Pros and Cons **: A doctor is a great job, but there are downsides. So what are the pros and cons of being a pediatrician?

** PROS: ** media type="custom" key="6347485" media type="custom" key="6347499"
 * Very rewarding!! You get to help and cure sick kids.
 * You get to see your patients for a long time and watch them grow up (from birth to 18 years old)
 * You (can) make a lot of money
 * You may be able to work flexible hours
 * Most pediatricians love their job and are very happy with it, especially if they love kids!
 * A pediatrician is a highly respected job
 * Pediatricians get to showcase their knowledge every day
 * You don't have to travel much!
 * The amount of pediatricians needed is supposed to increase 22% by 2018 because as the population increases, so will the need for pediatricians!

​ ** CONS:media type="custom" key="6347519" **
 * Seeing sick kids every day (especially if they are very sick) can be depressing
 * You must go through 11 years of schooling/training to become a doctor
 * This is very expensive!
 * At first, hours can be quite crazy when you're trying to get new patients
 * Parents/patients can be rude and annoying and might blame you when things go wrong
 * Being around sick people can make you sick!
 * You have to keep learning even when you do all that school

**What type of schooling do you have to go through to become a pediatrician?** media type="custom" key="6347535" width="88" height="90" To become a pediatrician you have to be very smart, hardworking, and disciplined. You need to earn your Bachelor's Degree. After college (four years), you must attend medical school for another four years. To get into medical school, you must take a difficult Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) and have good grades. After this schooling, you must complete a residency program. A residency program is a training program where you work at a hospital or somewhere else. Residencies usually take three years. If you pass the residency program and licensing exam, you can get a license to practice medicine in the state you live in. The schooling is very difficult, so you must make sure you are able to committ when you decide you want to become a pediatrician. Also, pediatricians are always having to learn new things, (advances in medicine and technology, new research being done) so don't think you're done even after 11 years of school!

media type="custom" key="6356179" This hard work pays off!! Pediatricians are good jobs that make a lot of money. The entry level salary range for this industry in $93,596 to $124,293. Pediatricians can make anywhere from $60,000 up to $400,000 a year, depending on how much they work and where they work.
 * $Money$ **

To become a pediatrician, you have to be good at science and math. (Equations, chemistry, sociology, and physics.) Also, you need to be a hard worker and love to learn. Besides academics, you also need certain social skills. You should be good with children, talking to sick people, and taking care of children. It is also important to be compassionate and empathetic and know how to break bad news. (i.e., a child is severely sick/hurt) You need to be able to talk to and reassure parents as well as put difficult medical terminology in ways that the patient and their family will understand. Also, you CAN'T BE AFRAID OF BLOOD OR INJURIES!!
 * Skills **

Most pediatricians work at private practices or group practices. However, others work at universities and hospitals. Pretty much anywherre you live, you can find a job as a pediatrician, however there are a greater amount of jobs where the population is greater! (i.e. big states like Florida or California and big cities like New York)
 * So, where can I work? **

**Organizations** AAP (American Association of Pediatrics) is an organization where pediatricians contribute their advice to people who need it. Doctors Without Borders is a great organization where doctors like pediatricians can travel around the world to impoverished countries and give medical attention to those who can't afford it. (but really need it.)

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 * antibiotic ||  || chemical substances produced by living organisms or made in labs for the purpose of killing other organisms that cause disease ||


 * blister ||  || a raised area on the skin containing fluid which can be blood or serum (the liquid portion of the blood) ||


 * colic ||  || a condition in any healthy baby that causes excessive crying ||


 * diptheria ||  || a serious, infectious disease that produces a poison and an inflammation in the membrane lining of the throat, nose, trachea, and other tissues ||


 * epilepsy ||  || a condition in which there is a problem in the brain that causes long-term seizures in children ||


 * hepatitis ||  || inflammation of the liver that can cause permanent damage. It is caused by viruses, medicines, or alcohol. ||


 * jaundice ||  || yellow coloring of the skin/eyes caused by too much bilirubin in the bloodstream because of liver problems ||


 * meningitis ||  || an inflammation of the membrane that covers the brain and spinal cord ||


 * stork bite ||  || small pink or red patches often found on baby's eyelids, between the eyes, on the upper lip, and on the back of the neck ||


 * tetanus ||  || an acute, sometimes fatal, disease of the central nervous system; caused by the toxin of the tetanus bacterium, which usually enters the body through an open wound. Although the tetanus bacterium live in manure and soil, they can also be found in the human intestine. ||


 * urticaria (Also called hives.) ||  || a condition in which red, itchy, and swollen areas appear on the skin - usually as an allergic reaction from eating certain foods or taking certain medications. ||


 * vomiting ||  || the release of stomach contents through the mouth; also known as throwing-up ||

Sources [] a pretty general description on doctors, what they do, how you can become one, and how much they get paid
 * x-ray ||  || a diagnostic test which uses invisible electromagnetic energy beams to produce images of internal tissues, bones, and organs onto film. ||

[|www.schoolsintheusa.com/careerprofiles_details.cfm?carid=528] specific information on what pediatricians do and whether you are right for the job

http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/00923/pediatrician.htm information on what pediatricians do/how or what they use to do it

[] Exactly what type of schooling/how hard you need to work to become a pediatrician.

[|www.aap.org] The American Association of Pediatrics website. Has information for pediatricians or people who want to be pediatricians (and how they can join this organization) as well as for parents.

[] more specific information on how to become a pediatrician

Medical Shows: shows like Grey's Anatomy portray some aspects of medicine that are accurate. For instance, one of the doctors work in the pediatrician section of the hospital. Even though some of it is extremely inaccurate and unrealistic, they do use a lot of medical terms in the show.

media type="custom" key="6364855" Chloe is a seventh grader at Rye Middle School. She has a sister in ninth grade, a brother in second grade, and another brother in preschool. She loves taking care of her little brothers, which is why she'd love to cure kids! She lives with her family and her dog in Rye, New York. She loved finding out all the information needed for this project and would love to become a pediatrician! However, she is not dead-set on becoming a pediatrician and would also like to explore some of the many careers out there!