Any Pediatricians here? What do you guys do?
I'm in year 11 and I'm going to start college next year. I have been looking into medicine specifically pediatrics as it sounded appealing to me. (In dentistry and general medicine) so any Pediatricians or people who specialise in the pediatric sector ( eg: pediatric dermatologist, pediatric dentist) can you give you experience of the job? Like what you do daily, what you like/dislike, hours of work etc. I would appreciate any details as I know how long and how hard it is to do medicine. I don't want to aim for it if it's not what I think it it and I don't enjoy the job. Thanks in advance.
Hello,
Paediatric junior doctor here training to be a paediatric consultant. I graduated from medical school 7 years ago but can give you a perspective on what paediatric medicine involves.
Paediatrics is broader than many other medical specialties. In adult medicine you might be a cardiologist or a gastroenterologist, in Paediatrics most doctors tend to look after the whole child with only a few subspecialising in the rarer conditions. This is great as it means you get loads of variety in your work and get to practice in a holistic way taking care of a child and their family.
The main areas within Paediatrics are neonatal medicine and neonatal intensive care (looking after babies born unwell and/or prematurely), general Paediatrics (children that are usually well but become unwell and need hospital care and those with long term conditions like diabetes, cystic fibrosis, and community paediatrics (children with disabilities or behavioural conditions, also children with additional social needs like adopted children or safeguarding concerns.
As a junior doctor after you qualify you rotate through all of these and you tend to pick parts of it you enjoy most and train more in these as you qualify as a consultant.
Studying medicine is long and hard regardless of which area you specialise in after you qualify. As a junior doctor life is different to most other graduates, you work a 48hr working week as standard, have to work nightshifts and weekends, you have to do more exams after you graduate (which you have to pay for and study for in your own time).
If you are considering applying for medicine then I'd strongly advise getting some work experience and not just with GPs or consultants but with junior doctors and medical students who can give you an accurate idea of what it takes to get to the end point.
I really love Paediatrics and think my job is great but generally think most teenagers applying to medicine have little idea of what they are signing themselves up for. Go in with your eyes open!
Paediatric junior doctor here training to be a paediatric consultant. I graduated from medical school 7 years ago but can give you a perspective on what paediatric medicine involves.
Paediatrics is broader than many other medical specialties. In adult medicine you might be a cardiologist or a gastroenterologist, in Paediatrics most doctors tend to look after the whole child with only a few subspecialising in the rarer conditions. This is great as it means you get loads of variety in your work and get to practice in a holistic way taking care of a child and their family.
The main areas within Paediatrics are neonatal medicine and neonatal intensive care (looking after babies born unwell and/or prematurely), general Paediatrics (children that are usually well but become unwell and need hospital care and those with long term conditions like diabetes, cystic fibrosis, and community paediatrics (children with disabilities or behavioural conditions, also children with additional social needs like adopted children or safeguarding concerns.
As a junior doctor after you qualify you rotate through all of these and you tend to pick parts of it you enjoy most and train more in these as you qualify as a consultant.
Studying medicine is long and hard regardless of which area you specialise in after you qualify. As a junior doctor life is different to most other graduates, you work a 48hr working week as standard, have to work nightshifts and weekends, you have to do more exams after you graduate (which you have to pay for and study for in your own time).
If you are considering applying for medicine then I'd strongly advise getting some work experience and not just with GPs or consultants but with junior doctors and medical students who can give you an accurate idea of what it takes to get to the end point.
I really love Paediatrics and think my job is great but generally think most teenagers applying to medicine have little idea of what they are signing themselves up for. Go in with your eyes open!
I'm not a paediatrician but just to add: its pretty unusual for the speciality someone has in mind pre-med school to actually end up being what they do post-med school. You experience so much and your priorities simply change with age as you go through med school and FY years. Paeds in particular is kind of notorious for this as people think 'kids are cute, lets do paeds' but don't really appreciate the reality of the job. I personally found the constant taking blood from screaming children and lots of weekends/nights aspect of it very hard to deal with, and that is hard to appreciate without actually experiencing it for months on end yourself. Not that it doesn't have its huge positives too though and it can be a great job, as above!
I'd get some work experience but focus your aims more broadly for now: Its quite likely that if you did apply for and get into med school that paeds would not be the area you choose to end up in 10 years down the line.
I'd get some work experience but focus your aims more broadly for now: Its quite likely that if you did apply for and get into med school that paeds would not be the area you choose to end up in 10 years down the line.
Original post by Smile88egc
Hello,
Paediatric junior doctor here training to be a paediatric consultant. I graduated from medical school 7 years ago but can give you a perspective on what paediatric medicine involves.
Paediatrics is broader than many other medical specialties. In adult medicine you might be a cardiologist or a gastroenterologist, in Paediatrics most doctors tend to look after the whole child with only a few subspecialising in the rarer conditions. This is great as it means you get loads of variety in your work and get to practice in a holistic way taking care of a child and their family.
The main areas within Paediatrics are neonatal medicine and neonatal intensive care (looking after babies born unwell and/or prematurely), general Paediatrics (children that are usually well but become unwell and need hospital care and those with long term conditions like diabetes, cystic fibrosis, and community paediatrics (children with disabilities or behavioural conditions, also children with additional social needs like adopted children or safeguarding concerns.
As a junior doctor after you qualify you rotate through all of these and you tend to pick parts of it you enjoy most and train more in these as you qualify as a consultant.
Studying medicine is long and hard regardless of which area you specialise in after you qualify. As a junior doctor life is different to most other graduates, you work a 48hr working week as standard, have to work nightshifts and weekends, you have to do more exams after you graduate (which you have to pay for and study for in your own time).
If you are considering applying for medicine then I'd strongly advise getting some work experience and not just with GPs or consultants but with junior doctors and medical students who can give you an accurate idea of what it takes to get to the end point.
I really love Paediatrics and think my job is great but generally think most teenagers applying to medicine have little idea of what they are signing themselves up for. Go in with your eyes open!
Paediatric junior doctor here training to be a paediatric consultant. I graduated from medical school 7 years ago but can give you a perspective on what paediatric medicine involves.
Paediatrics is broader than many other medical specialties. In adult medicine you might be a cardiologist or a gastroenterologist, in Paediatrics most doctors tend to look after the whole child with only a few subspecialising in the rarer conditions. This is great as it means you get loads of variety in your work and get to practice in a holistic way taking care of a child and their family.
The main areas within Paediatrics are neonatal medicine and neonatal intensive care (looking after babies born unwell and/or prematurely), general Paediatrics (children that are usually well but become unwell and need hospital care and those with long term conditions like diabetes, cystic fibrosis, and community paediatrics (children with disabilities or behavioural conditions, also children with additional social needs like adopted children or safeguarding concerns.
As a junior doctor after you qualify you rotate through all of these and you tend to pick parts of it you enjoy most and train more in these as you qualify as a consultant.
Studying medicine is long and hard regardless of which area you specialise in after you qualify. As a junior doctor life is different to most other graduates, you work a 48hr working week as standard, have to work nightshifts and weekends, you have to do more exams after you graduate (which you have to pay for and study for in your own time).
If you are considering applying for medicine then I'd strongly advise getting some work experience and not just with GPs or consultants but with junior doctors and medical students who can give you an accurate idea of what it takes to get to the end point.
I really love Paediatrics and think my job is great but generally think most teenagers applying to medicine have little idea of what they are signing themselves up for. Go in with your eyes open!
Thank you for the reply. So would you suggest focusing on getting good work experience. (As some people have told me it's better to focus on getting good grades in a levels and picking the right subjects. I want to do Biology chemistry and sociology but a lot of people have told me to pick maths or physics instead of sociology. I really don't like maths and I don't like the sound of doing all three sceinces if I can help it. I know if I pick on elf the two I won't enjoy it so I might not put as much effort and my grades might slip. Don't you mind telling me what subjects you chose and what you'd recommend. Sorry for the late reply btw
I applied for medical school 12 years ago so it's probably not very relevant now but I did Biology, chemistry and psychology with maths and critical thinking at AS.
Different medical schools have different preferences on what they want you to have at A level so you need to research which med schools you'd like to apply to and what they require for A levels.
Different medical schools have different preferences on what they want you to have at A level so you need to research which med schools you'd like to apply to and what they require for A levels.
Original post by nexttime
I'm not a paediatrician but just to add: its pretty unusual for the speciality someone has in mind pre-med school to actually end up being what they do post-med school. You experience so much and your priorities simply change with age as you go through med school and FY years. Paeds in particular is kind of notorious for this as people think 'kids are cute, lets do paeds' but don't really appreciate the reality of the job. I personally found the constant taking blood from screaming children and lots of weekends/nights aspect of it very hard to deal with, and that is hard to appreciate without actually experiencing it for months on end yourself. Not that it doesn't have its huge positives too though and it can be a great job, as above!
I'd get some work experience but focus your aims more broadly for now: Its quite likely that if you did apply for and get into med school that paeds would not be the area you choose to end up in 10 years down the line.
I'd get some work experience but focus your aims more broadly for now: Its quite likely that if you did apply for and get into med school that paeds would not be the area you choose to end up in 10 years down the line.
Thank you. I've been told that as well. I'll keep that in mind. Ngl I did think the whole "oh kids are cute" thing and it did push me towards the job. I'll keep my options more broad for now, I just wanted an idea of what it was actually like as I had a feeling it isn't just all sunshine and rainbows as is most medical Jobs.
Original post by Oliie75
...as I had a feeling it isn't just all sunshine and rainbows...
Ha, no!
Another particularly unpleasant aspect is the child protection side of things. Its staggering what some people will do to their own children, and as a paediatrician you are very much at the hard end of things, either dealing with horrendous abuse or dealing with distraught innocent parents who are having to be investigated. Every time i came across that as a junior, i was so glad i could just hold my hands up and pass on responsibility to the poor paeds registrar!
Also read about Bawa Garba at your peril!
Again: not that paeds is bad at all! But I do think this is a decision for after med school so i won't make too much efforts to balance my post
Just get that experience. Original post by Oliie75
... and I don't like the sound of doing all three sceinces if I can help it.
Why not? They have a decent amount of overlap, in terms of skills if nothing else.
But if you don't want to you don't need to. Cambridge essentially requires 3 sciences and having maths might help slightly with the BMAT, but otherwise no med school asks for more than biology or chemistry, and as you observe: getting less than AAA would be disastrous.
It sounds like sociology would be best for you.
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