How much years of education do you need to be a pediatrician?

It takes four years to complete medical school and three years to complete a general pediatrics residency. Pediatricians whose postgraduate training combines pediatrics with another medical specialty will spend an additional two years in their residency.

To become a pediatrician, you will have to do 4 years of college to get a bachelors degree, then 4 years of medical school. After medical school, you will do a residency. Residency is like an apprenticeship - you work under the supervision of experienced pediatricians (AKA attending physicians). You do carry the MD title and receive a small salary during this time. General pediatrics residency is 3 years after medical school. After that, you can be a primary care pediatrician or a hospitalist taking care of kids admitted to the hospital. If you want to sub-specialize (i.e., peds cardiology, pulmonology, heme/onc, NICU, etc) you will need an additional 3 years of fellowship.