I am doing a report on pediatricians for school, and I was just wondering if you could send me information on what sorts of requirements are needed, salaries, and other information like that. Thanks a lot!

It's back to school time and questions have come pouring in from students around the world about what is required to become a pediatrician. In some ways I'm glad I didn't know all that was involved when I embarked on this course. If I had seen beforehand how much work was involved, I might have been overwhelmed and would have missed out on a life's work that is truly thrilling, rewarding, and worth every sleepless night.

Although the preparation for becoming a physician doesn't officially begin until college, it unofficially begins much earlier. Every decision for excellence, from high school onwards, impacts your chances of getting into medical school. The college or university you attend will be considered when applying for medical school -- the more prestigious the school the better. During college you can either complete a pre-med major or a major in almost anything else. My major was actually in history with a specialty in the history and the philosophy of science. Princeton did not facilitate double majors, but I had enough chemistry courses to have been a chemistry major as well. Whatever your major, you must take courses in the core premedical sciences. These include organic chemistry, physical chemistry, physics, biology, and probably calculus. Your grades in these core courses will be particularly important for medical school admission. They will also help prepare you for the MCATs (the standardized testing which plays a significant role in medical school admissions.) To have your medical school application seriously considered, outstanding grades and MCAT scores are important. Once your application is considered, one of the things that will be looked for is your exposure to the world of health and medicine during your undergraduate years. Particularly favorable are a track record of medical research and volunteering in a medical setting. For pediatrics it is especially useful if the volunteer work you have done is with children.

With four difficult years of undergraduate education completed, and an acceptance into medical school, you will settle in for four probably even more difficult years of education. The first two years are primarily focused on the study of basic sciences such as anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology, microbiology, immunology, etc. The second two years are focused on the clinical sciences of medicine, surgery, neurology, psychiatry, obstetrics/gynecology, and of course pediatrics.

In the same way that you worked at excelling during high school so that you could get into an excellent college or university, and then in college you worked at excelling in order to get into medical school, during medical school you must work hard in order to get into a pediatric training program. To get a good pediatric training position it is important to score well on the National Medical Board examinations, to have solid academic performance in medical school, and in particular to have honors during the pediatrics rotations that you take.

During medical school there is plenty of opportunity to change your mind as to which area of medicine you would like to go ultimately into. This happens frequently.