THE WEIGHT CARRIED BY PEDIATRICS 1

The Weight Carried by Pediatrics

Pavan Induraj

Harrison High School

STEM: Advanced Scientific Research

Mrs. Nancy Curran

22 April 2024
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Table Of Contents

 Chapter 1: Career Choice

 Introduction Page 3

 Career Choice Page 4

 A Day in the Life Page 5

 Pros and Cons Page 7

 Chapter 2: From Here to There

 Profession Profile Page 9

 Education Page 10

 Budgeting Page 11

 Chapter 3: Personal Assessment

 My Skills Page 13

 My Personality Page 14

 My Motivation Page 15

 Chapter 4: Productivity

 My Project Page 17

 Career Connection Page 18

 Chapter 5: References

 References Page 20
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Chapter 1: Career Choice

Introduction

The youth and generations of children coming after are eventually going to be the future

for the role of a pediatrician, and I consider having the ability to treat such a patient is an

honorable act. The change in perspective for diagnosing and treating younger patients truly

intrigues me particularly due to the different procedural steps taken. This career choice of

serving people has always been a quality and trait I highly take part in. My role in serving

someone has paid a large role into who I truly am as a person, and helping young children while

enduring a course of pain keeps my mind fulfilled. Furthermore, the career pathway of pediatrics

is going to provide me with a new perspective upon the existing world, bringing joy and light

into the room through the conversations made between me and a patient. I will be happy doing so

as I can recall my own experiences with my own pediatrician and understand the scene through

the patient’s eyes, eventually helping create a comforting and fun relationship between both of

us.

The path of pediatrics had fallen into my hands when I was working with a pediatrician in

the summer of 2023. I was given such an opportunity by the local WellStar West Cobb center

when I inquired for any possible way by which I could shadow and work under the guidance of

their health professionals. I worked under pediatrician Dr. Daniel Saade for almost 2 months, and

he fascinated me with the work he was doing for his patients. Each interaction was filled with

bright, cheerful, and enjoyable conversation starters, making each patient comfortable and

willing enough to speak about their problem. His work ethic and passion for his job truly

inspired me to take a deeper look into such a career and understand how he looked towards it (D.

Saade, personal connection, July 21, 2023). Lastly, I was able to determine and establish the
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foundation for my career of practicing pediatrics using the Career Cruising Assignment as it

described my field of choice should be one explored upon artistic, conventional, and

investigative skills.

Pediatrics and the Career within it

The career being explore is called general pediatrics, particularly practiced by general

pediatricians. These health professionals work in the service of younger patients, typically

ranging from infants to adolescents, in effort to diagnose them for any illness, treat them for any

abnormalities, and help them maintain their health by monitoring their development. In further

detail, they look for any common childhood ailments and injuries and come down to a solution

depending upon their given circumstances, while recommending patients for further specialists

and additional care if needed. Furthermore, they also communicate each patient’s health, fitness,

and development effectively to their respective parents or guardians. The pursuit towards such a

career field can come with an estimated mean salary of $216,500 per year in the current world.

Although such a value can seem high at first, pediatricians seem to make the lowest end of the

salary range for careers such a physicians and surgeons. Growth in such a career has

unfortunately been held down into minimal numbers due to large masses of competition for the

pathway. According to an article from Learn, the job growth rate for general pediatricians is

projected to be 2% starting from 2018 to 2028 (Learn, 2022). On the other side of economics, the

unemployment rate for pediatricians has seemed to be held down to a tight constraint with 0.9%

from 2022 to 2032. Moreover, pediatricians can only be certified practitioners after they have

achieved certain accomplishments and qualifications. From the start, future practicians need a

four-year bachelor’s degree, then a four-year medical degree, followed by a three-year residency

term, and finally pass a national licensing exam. Such steps can create a large obstacle for people
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pursing such a career, however people with the most felt passion and hard work can create a

dream into a reality.

Besides from the basic and economic statistics about the career, pediatricians portray

various skills and personality traits that help them thrive in their job. For example, an article

from CPM describes an effective pediatrician to be able to communicate readily with their

patient or parents, create relationships, build up patience, and form a welcoming environment

whilst being trustworthy and transparent (Center of Pediatric Medicine 2023). These health

professionals are working with a younger population and therefore would need characteristics

that would help them relate to their patient as much as possible. In conclusion, the relationship

built between a pediatrician and their patient must be upkept at the greatest level to maintain a

smooth and transparent interaction.

A Day in the Life

The life of a pediatrician starts by walking into designated clinics or hospitals and

conveying basic informational keep ups with the rest of staff including their nurses, medical

assistants, and triage nurses at around 8 AM. They regularly keep each other up to date on how

the schedule looks by examining each patient’s data prior to their medical visit. According to an

article from St. George’s University, they met with pediatric physicians who took oversight of

the patients who came to check in overnight through the process of a “sign-out” (Cskopecce ,

2022). As the clock strikes nine, they start with their morning rounds, checking in with each

patient and their parents, communicating effectively as to what might be the root of the problem,

diagnoses each one through procedure, and creates treatment plans for them with notice to other

relevant providers. In addition, they use some of their time to work with medical students and
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residents, demonstrating different procedures and steps taken during a patient visit and teach

others how one may go about such a process. After their rounds at 4 PM, pediatricians also take

notes on the patients he encountered throughout the day, advising residents of what they could do

in different patient scenarios. At the end of their day, they “sign-out” with the next physicians

that come for their shift, informing them about all their responsibilities and plans.

According to the pediatricians I work with, they typically enlist themselves in enclosed

environments, typically through medical facilities and clinics. Most pediatricians explore their

careers through workstations of small and compact clinics as their jobs does not ask for large

emergencies yet conduct more daily routine check-ups. Such environments typically consist of

multiple patient rooms, a triage room, a nurse’s station, and offices for each higher ranked health

professional. In this career, the life offered to one is that of stability with the lack of large

movements and travel. There might be instances where pediatricians may be required to

temporarily move especially through emergencies as their skills may be required upon a larger

issue such as a car accident case, however, these circumstances are quite unlikely for travel.

Playing such an important role in society can also come with significant benefits, one largely

being the idea of choosing one’s working hours. Pediatricians on a regular basis can create their

schedules according to their choice with a set number of required hours by each employer.

Through personal experiences of meeting with pediatricians daily, a large majority of them do

like their job due to the opportunity of truly being able to help someone, in some way or form

with the understanding of building relationships with them. Professionals in the medical field can

create a true impact in someone else’s life through their responsibilities and skills, and for doing

so they should be appreciated at a larger scale.

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Pros and Cons

The journey of a pediatrician can look differently for each person gifted for such a career,

however, are some common themes and understanding that all of them appreciate and take

advantage of as part of their benefits. According to an article from Healthecareers, pediatricians

move through different patients every day, without any repeating cases of illness, stories, and

thoughts thereby making it a challenge (Rose, 2019). They understand that each patient is

different and look upon them with a clear view, cheering them up in multiple aspects. A

pediatrician can also have a large impact on families, as they understand how much their young

one and their health means to them. Another large advantage of working in this career is the

ability to make friends with children every day, glancing at the world through the eyes of

someone so young. The relationship built between a patient and their pediatrician can extend for

a long period as they meet through multiple consecutive years, learning more about each other

even further. At last, the team of people working towards the same goal can have a large upside

as to what pediatricians can achieve throughout a day.

In some areas of concern, however, pediatricians can face some unfortunate scenarios due

to the struggles of their careers. Through the process of education, the overall process of

becoming a pediatrician can require up to 7 years of additional school over a bachelor’s degree,

slowly accumulating the large debt of all forms of schooling in general. In addition, exposure to

different illnesses can create an unpleasant environment as numerous sick patients come by to

pay visits. Through these visits and interactions, pathogens can be transferred from one person to

another and potentially have the pediatrician fall sick. Whilst adding up the disadvantages from

an article from American Academy of Pediatrics, numerous pediatricians reported that their

stressed them out as they were unable to balance their professional and personal lives together.
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Such a scenario can be caused by working extra in the time designated for personal matters,

changing the overall split between each aspect. All these factors can play a large role into why

someone might step out the process of pursuing this career, one that offers multiple benefactors

with a cost.
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Chapter 2: From Here to There

Profession Profile

People who are interested in the field of pediatrics should have an original thought of

care and commitment to the deep treatment of their patients. To pursue such a career, one must

have the same passion towards children and the younger generation like that of practicing

pediatricians. They see the lives of their patients through a lens that cannot necessarily be seen

by parents, more often through logical thinking and interpretation. In addition, they have a

personal motive to connect with each of their patients in a more relatable and understanding

environment, thereby making them and the ones close to them feel more comforted and safer.

This in turn means that pediatricians interact with each related person with a warm,

approachable, and understanding call.

Interactions with the younger generation of the world can create a new variant of how one

views the world, thereby changing the perspective upon which pediatricians often look upon

situations. They are amazed as to how the world is looked at through younger eyes and further

enable them to recall their own childhood experiences. Such a gift of change can only be done

through a career choice in the field of pediatrics as it provides a wide range of relatability.

Besides the educational variants of the career, pediatricians often display a plethora of

effective communication skills through their work, often helping build relationships with new

patients and their families. While amid a patient visit, they clearly listen to the concerns

addressed by patients, lay out possibilities for the issue, and effectively convey the message of

the method of treatment in terms of simple understanding for the general public. Their ability to

take responsibility, in addition, creates a sense of leadership and trust that can be easily portrayed
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to their patient and family. The role of pediatricians largely contributes to the upbringing of their

local community as well as the global scale as they improve the lives of the future generation and

their livelihoods.

Education

The pathway to reach the career goal of becoming a pediatrician can be hard and tiring as

it asks for multiple stages of education with certifications that can take a long period of time. The

overall process starts with the process of undergraduate studies, medical school, residency

training, and other internships and opportunities throughout the elongated pathway. Firstly, a

bachelor’s degree in the field of any career-related themes such as biology and pre-medicine.

The career does not ask for any specific form of bachelor’s degree yet preferably asks for the

involvement of any previous background knowledge as it works as a strong foundation.

After achieving a bachelor’s degree, one can pursue their next goal of studying in medical

school and attaining a Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree. However,

being admitted into such schools can be seen as a large obstacle for even the smartest

undergraduate students as they must pass the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and take

part in multiple interviews. Through medical college, aspiring students must take part in

pursuing a particular field, but in this case through courses for pediatrics and clinical rotations.

Following medical school, graduates must be a part of a residential program where they

typically spend three years. These new students gain hands-on experience through real

experiences especially through nearby hospitals, thereby exposing them to wide ranges of

pediatric conditions and challenges. In addition, after completing residency they may choose to

pursue different certification for a specific pediatric department including cardiology,

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neuroscience, and oncology. Lastly, pediatricians are required to keep regulatory checkups

through exams and requirements for the American Board of Pediatrics.

Budgeting

The pursuit to become a pediatrician can come with multiple different objectives and

challenges whilst in the way, however, people continue to do so due to the large ratio of benefits

that are to come. Achieving a goal like a pediatrician can have large financial deficits as

schooling towards learning and qualifying for practicing the career can build up each patient’s

debt with more extended years spent. On the other side of things, people moving towards such a

career can also expect a largely building benefit at the end with splendid salaries.

After high school, future pediatricians need a bachelor’s degree in a related field of science

to carry on to reach their goal, in effect, costing them around $80,000 for just an undergraduate

program. Starting off with such debt can bear a large burden for them as the first degree proved

to be a very onset onto what is to come. Later, the completion of medical school can range to

about $160,000 for the total of 4 years as well as a Doctorate degree. Through the hard learning

process of graduate school, people can understand the difficulty and depth at which the career

they are asking and striving for, developing a consciousness illustrating one’s commitment to it.

Through the struggles of the practicing stage, pediatricians can also benefit from their job

in different variants of their pursuit. First off, pediatricians can earn a regulated salary as they

take part in residency through real experiences, learning from them, and creating potential

treatment options. After their three years of practice, they can be certified to effectively work as

a pediatrician and earn a fair share to slowly cover the costs of the student debt accumulated

through the years. An average starting salary of $150,000 can greatly contribute to cover the
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deficit that had been accumulating through multiple different years. In addition, pediatricians can

increase their overall wage by eating more certifications to specialize regions of health, thereby

helping themselves focus more on what they are interested in whilst creating an advantage for

themselves.
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Chapter 3: Personal Assessment

My Skills

The wide plethora of skills required to excel in the field of pediatrics can hold values of

care, passion, and understanding. Understanding younger patients and the different ways by

which they convey their message can create a healthy relationship between each pediatrician and

their respective patient. I possess a sense of hearing while providing time for conveyors to

communicate with me effectively and to the best of their ability. Such a skill can be vital in the

case of understanding each patient and their concerns to the greatest ability since that will allow

me to create a general diagnosis of what they are suffering from. Such a skill can only be

developed through behavioral development through and overall growth.

The pathway of education and specific knowledge can also pose as one of my key skills

as it allows me to investigate different patient complaints and address them through an

appropriate analysis and conclusion. Such a skill delves deeper into what the human body for

younger patients may differ from one another through a scientific lens, while continuing to create

a deeper level brainstorming method to identify a potential disease through specific patient

symptoms. However, the scale upon which such knowledge is acquired can take a long period of

time as the levels of study like undergraduate, medical school, and residency can add broader

details onto what I already know, thereby creating some deficiencies. I can increasingly improve

on the grasp of details in the human body and pediatrics throughout time as I do not possess the

expected knowledge needed for such a career now.

The main aspect and need for pediatricians is the level of care provided to each patient,

determined through the ability to listen to them, communicate effectively through terms that can

be understood by them, and the relationship built between the two parties. I have a natural sense
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for assisting and caring for people in need as their own experience can be vastly different from

the outside world’s perspective. Despite my lack of skill and experience caring for children and

the younger patient may seem like a consequence to the career, I can change by involving myself

more in realms of life that the younger population may relate to and understand.

My Personality

My ability to create mood-lightening, unofficial, and relatable instances of communication

can help develop a sense of reassurance amongst the patients and their parents. I can understand

the perspective of younger patients since I was once in their shoes, thereby forming an additional

sense of comfort and availability in communicating the possible concerns. The pediatrician's role

in society also provides a spontaneous expression on how each patient had their own different

perspective especially through my sounding and curious aspects of conversational methods.

Although my overall way with children has always been pushed down to a minimum, my

curiosity and passion to hearing different stories with a unique truth brings an amused and

cheerful perspective onto everybody.

Through the Career Cruising Assignment, I was able to explore that I was categorized

strongly with investigative and artistic traits when extracted through the OneStop Interest

Assessment. On the investigative side, pediatricians create extended interpretations by making

observations from each of their patients. In addition, the survey portrays me to have the

capability to hear new ideas and stories, and it can be best grasped through the perspective of a

pediatrician. Moreover, my artistic piece comes into play through my intuition and creative

thinking. For example, if a patient was experiencing unusual symptoms through new patterns,

then I would have to base my conclusion of a diagnosis through the based education I have

acquired in total. In general, however, the field of pediatrics fits perfectly within my personality
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as it creates a continuous nuance of excitement and exploration through new and different

subjects especially through the new relationships and journeys that slowly start to develop into a

welcoming and cheerful environment.

My Motivation

My general exploration of my career has led me to a conclusion that I can truly pursue

such a lifestyle and journey for the future. Through multiple investigative options, I was able to

understand that the career role can take a larger toll on each prospective student, however, the

benefits of building new relationships, relating to the younger population, and making a large

living can contribute to the overall force of pushing me to become a pediatrician. One of the

largest necessary skills I recently learned for such a career is the projection at which I need to

move at to make my goal and reality as I now understand the risk and can plan accordingly upon

the ones I need to take. The life of a pediatrician seems to be filled with spontaneous instances

every day as my skills of working with a team can help create a healthy and cheerful

environment at work. In addition, my developing skill of working with children by relating to

them can help comfort the patient themselves whilst helping me understand their concerns even

better. Lastly, the overall role and responsibility of a medical professional can create a scene of

respect in a particular community as more people, especially children, can be dependent upon a

pediatrician’s skills.

To truly follow the steps to become a pediatrician, the next step for me would be to attend

and earn a bachelor’s degree with a biological or medical-oriented major at any available

undergraduate program or university since most offer such classes. Later, I would earn a Doctor

of Medicine degree through any local and nearby school such as the Emory School of Medicine

or the Medical School of Georgia and complete my residency through commonly visited
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programs that can be easily traveled to. If chosen upon, I don’t have to move as I can work under

local and regional pediatric offices as they may be short in the overall help provided. Large

companies such as WellStar and Kaiser Permanente are some of the companies that employ

pediatricians and may require some form of movements upon the demand of work.

Through my journey to become a pediatrician, I am going to face numerous adversities

that can change my overall experience. One of the largest obstacles that can be brought to my

attention is the work ethic needed throughout the whole process as the end goal can only be

achieved after a decade. I can work through such an instance by constantly staying focused on

learning different educational materials as well as creating an efficient plan for going about a

significant task through the different years. Another obstacle can be the numerous distractions

that can pour itself in my way, potentially forcing me out of the system of learning. Using

intuition and common sense, I can generally avoid making decisions that I can foresee to have a

poor impact on my future.

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Chapter 4: Productivity

My Project

Doctors, pediatricians, and various other medical professionals convey messages to their

patients through specialized messaging systems and applications. They can spend several

minutes composing an appropriate response in the format of a mail with all the various

information they have collected upon each visit on their health database. Such time can be used

for various other measures such as tending to more immediate patients, learning through deeper

research, and helping their general staff with any necessary actions. To address such a problem, I

had set myself to create a platform where messages can be conveyed using artificial intelligence.

A program that works accordingly can extract data input by medical professionals and use their

own coding to create a simple and understanding message, illustrating their concerns, diagnosis,

and possible treatment options.

I was able to create Patient Talk by building a language program with the help of artificial

intelligence to create a medium that medical professionals can use to communicate with their

patients with more convenience. I had been working under doctors since the start of my junior

year, shadowing and assisting them with any easy work. When learning behind, I had noticed

that they always used platforms where they can record different pieces of information about

numerous patients. The most common application, Epic, can develop in the most creative ways

possible, allowing each medical professional to create their own keywords for describing their

patients, the needed treatment, and other recommendations. My application can extract all the

information stored in such applications and use their further recommendations to create a

grammatically accurate and understanding message for them. It uses the coding of AI as well as

the language program to illustrate the recommendations and concerns for each patient by
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transforming raw data into understandable messages. The overall product works efficiently as it

can convey messages accurately through data obtained from Epic, however it can be further

improved as I can expand the program into other platforms that medical professionals can be

used, thereby increasing its overall function.

Career Connection

The field of pediatrics can ask for continued communication over a period of time as it can

allow for building a good relationship between each medical professional and patient as well as

their parents. Parents, in particular, can be very caretaking, and in order to fulfill their needs

quickly and efficiently, Patient Talk can help create understandable responses for each unique

patient. In addition, pediatricians can be very busy individuals as they are illustrated to have

numerous patients over a given schedule, rushing to talk to their next one each second. My

application can offload a large tension of extra work that later has to be done.

Patient Talk can use the information that the pediatricians have input for their young

patients and make recommendations using keywords as to what needs to occur in the future. In

addition, the product heavily relates to the career as it addresses the time and work constraint that

pediatricians must endure within a short period of time. The product can create efficient

responses using language coded by me as well as artificial intelligence platforms such as

ChatGPT. The public, moreover, most likely do not understand complex medical terminology

when trying to purchase treatment options from pharmacies. Pediatricians understand such

circumstances and address their messages accordingly to help patients understand more about

their concerns and treatment. My program does the same using technology and modern tone to

help create an efficient plan to communicate amongst each other. The increase in
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communication, in such an industry, will allow each pediatrician to truly understand their patient

and respond accordingly without any extra work on their shoulders.

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Chapter 5: References

Cfpm. (2023, December 5). 7 Best Qualities of a Great Pediatrician - Center for Pediatric Medicine.

Center for Pediatric Medicine. https://centerforpediatricmedct.com/7-best-qualities-of-a-great-

pediatrician/

Cskopecce. (2022, June 14). Shadow a pediatrician a work for day | SGU. Medical Blog.

https://www.sgu.edu/blog/medical/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-pediatrician/

Pediatrician job description. Betterteam. (n.d.). https://www.betterteam.com/pediatrician-job-

description
Publications.aap.org. (n.d.). https://publications.aap.org/aapnews/news/8911/Early-career-pediatricians-

satisfied-with-work?autologincheck=redirected

Rose, A. (2019, August 16). 8 Reasons pediatrics jobs make fulfilling careers.

healthecareers.com. https://www.healthecareers.com/career-resources/on-the-job/8-reasons-

pediatrics-jobs-make-fulfilling-careers

Salary.com. (n.d.). Pediatrician salary in Georgia | Salary.com.

https://www.salary.com/research/salary/alternate/pediatrician-salary/ga
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