How Much Do Starting Pediatricians Get Paid?
Are you a physician considering a career transition into a medical specialty? Do you like working with children? As a pediatrician, could count on earning a relatively high salary even when just starting out. More information on the compensation profile of pediatricians is available here. Schools offering Health Science degrees can also be found in these popular choices.
What Can Pediatricians Expect to Earn?
April 2011 figures from Payscale.com reveal that the middle salary range for pediatricians who have less than one year of experience is $90,000-$134,410. Salaries stay close to this range at $96,445-$131,560 for practitioners with 1-4 years of experience, and then move up to $101,311-$146,738 after 5-9 years. Your salary could be $109,611-$152,799 after 10-19 years and $121,108-$161,980 after 20 or more years.
Pediatricians working in hospitals in April 2011 earned $65,547-$145,491, which represents a wider salary range compared to other work settings. For instance, if you work in a pediatric office you could earn $99,678-$137,645, while at a college or university you could earn $99,000-$148,055. As a pediatrician in the armed forces you could earn $114,882-$137,410.
As of May 2009, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the top five cities or municipal areas for pediatricians by median salary were York, PA, at $164,950, Austin, TX, at $163,950, Poughkeepsie, NY, at $163,480, San Francisco, CA, at $162,950 and Seattle, WA, at $162,890 (www.bls.gov). The bottom five cities for pediatricians' salaries were Vineland, NJ, at $105,590, Chicago, IL, at $102,300, Burlington, VT, at $102,220, Kenosha County, WI, at $97,400 and Miami, FL, at $95,060.
Where Could I Work?
According to the BLS, physicians offices, general medical hospitals, outpatient care centers, colleges and universities and specialty hospitals are the largest employers of pediatricians. Approximately 29,460 people worked as pediatricians in May 2009, down significantly from about 63,494 in 2008. Employment projections were available only for the larger category of physicians and surgeons, which were expected to grow 22% from 2008 and 2018.
What Job Duties Will I Have?
As a pediatrician, your main responsibility will be to provide medical care to people from their birth through late adolescence Duties might entail diagnosing patients through direct examination, performing lab tests, reviewing clinical records and consulting with colleagues, prescribing medications, monitoring the results of treatment and conducting follow-up examinations. You can provide general care or focus on a sub-specialty, such as neonatology, pediatric surgery or pediatric audiology. At a hospital you may also be responsible for developing patient care policies and procedures, managing a staff of caregivers and coordinating pediatric services with other medical providers.
To continue researching, browse degree options below for course curriculum, prerequisites and financial aid information. Or, learn more about the subject by reading the related articles below:
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