Career Development: Medical Specialties: Pediatrics

Pediatricians focus on the care of children from birth to 21 years of age. They provide preventive health maintenance for healthy children and medical care for those who are seriously or chronically ill. They may diagnose and treat infections, injuries, genetic defects, malignancies and many types of organic disease and dysfunctions. Pediatricians may practice in many different types of outpatient (private or public clinics) or hospital-based settings (inpatient r urgent-care/emergency departments in community or academic hospitals). One may choose to work in general pediatrics or in one of the pediatric sub-specialty fields. Pediatricians may also work in the field of public health, or be involved in research in the basic sciences or in health services. Those in pediatrics strive to optimize the care for children, in part by becoming expert n child development and behavior, by providing care in the context of families, and by advocating for the health and safety of all children.

Residency training information:

• Duration of training (number of years): Three years
• Number of programs nationally: 198 programs
• Number of entering residency positions per year: 2,161

• Types of fellowships or subspecialties: Adolescent Medicine, Pediatric Cardiology, Pediatric Critical Care, Pediatric Endocrinology, Pediatric Gastoenterology, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Neonatal/Perinatal Medicine, Pediatric Nephrology,Pediatric Pulmonology, Pediatric Psychiatry, Pediatric PM&R, Pediatric Rheumatology, Child Neurology, Genetics, General Academic, Pediatric E.R. and Behavior/Development
• Type of Match: NRMP
• Overall competitiveness: Moderately Competitive (good chance of matching for average student)

Primary faculty contact person for M1 and M2 students:

• Dr. Jennifer Christner, jchristn@umich.edu

Medical Student Club or Interest Group:

• Pediatric Interest Group:
  Contact: Dr. Jennifer Christner, jchristn@umich.edu

Shadowing or mentoring experiences available to M1 or M2 students:

• Shadowing (short or long term) or mentoring:
  Available in Inpatient and Outpatient settings, in General or Subspecialty areas
  Contact: Ms. Tonya Basnight, Office of Pediatric Student Programs, tbas@umich.edu
  Phone: 763-7512
• Research Opportunities In:
  Pediatric Subspecialties: Contact Dr. John LiPuma, jlipuma@umich.edu
  Pediatric Health Services: Contact Sarah Clark, saclark@umich.edu

Resources:

• An Introduction to Pediatrics: Pediatrics 101 (http://www.aap.org/profed/peds101.htm)
• American Academy of Pediatrics (http://www.aap.org)
• Ambulatory Pediatrics Association (http://www.ambpeds.org)
• American Board of Pediatrics (http://www.abp.org)
• Association of Pediatric Program Directors (http://www.appd.org)
• Council on Medical Student Education in Pediatrics (http://www.comsep.org)

Suggested journals, books, or other information for interested students: