Information on Pediatrics
Many people think that becoming a pediatrician starts the day they start college but in fact it starts very unofficially before this. It starts when you enter high school and start striving for excellence in all the courses you do. This is no easy task in high school, where every decision you make, can impact your chances of achieving your goal, nor is an easy task to reach the goal of being a pediatrician but it is all so worth while at the end of your journey.
When you are ready to apply to a college the more prestigious the college is the better your chances will be in becoming a pediatrician. During your college days you can complete a pre-med major or a major in almost anything else. A word of warning though Princeton does not facilitate double majors but if you have enough chemistry courses you can major in chemistry. Whatever you major in you must take courses in the premedical sciences. These will include such things as organic chemistry, physical chemistry, physics, biology and sometimes calculus. The grades in all these courses will be critical for medical school admission. These courses, when graded, will help you to get ready for the standardized testing which plays a major role in you being admitted to medical school. One of the things they look for is that you have had exposure to health and medicine in your undergraduate years. Track records of volunteering in medical research in a medical setting are very favorable especially if you have volunteered with children.
Once you get four years of undergraduate education completed and you are accepted into medical school your battle is not quite over. You will be looking forward to at least four or more years of education. The first two years will bring the study of basic sciences such as anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology, microbiology, immunology and more. Then through the second two years you will be introduced to the clinical sciences of medicine, surgery, neurology, psychiatry, obstetrics/gynecology and pediatrics.
During all of these phases you will still have to excel in excellence the same way as you did through all the courses you took. It starts with you excelling in high school, then college or university, then in medical school until finally you enter a pediatric program. In order to get in a good pediatric program training position you have to score well on the National Medical Board examination. It is also good to have honors in the pediatric rotations that you take.
When you finally arrive at internship you will find that you will learn more in the year of internship than you would if all the previous years were combined. This will be a very difficult year and at the end of this year you will write another round of National Medical Board examinations. When you have passed these exams you will still have to complete a residency. This is another two years of intensive pediatric training. You can continue in this line and become a Chief Resident. After all this is completed you are finally entitled to hang out your shingle and call yourself a pediatrician. You will be one of the few to enjoy this rewarding and deeply meaningful career.
