2 answers
Anita
Student
North Haven, Connecticut
21
Questions
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What does a day in the life of a Pediatrician look like?
Just wondering what the workload, and overall routine would look like. :)
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2 answers
Cindy Henry
Physician
3
Answers
Woodruff, Wisconsin
Updated
Cindy’s Answer
As a General Pediatrician, I start my day out in the newborn nursery rounding on the infants born in the previous 24 hours; after that I might see a few sick children on the hospital side if I am on call, otherwise I head to clinic to see patients. Take care of birth to college age, wellness visit/preventive care to sick visits and chronic illness. In between actual patient contact, is paperwork or phone calls to parents for follow up, results review or medication checks. Immunizations are given by the nurses. Occasionally I have minor procedures that I would do that include stitches, skin lesion removal, toe nail removal, circumcision. I no longer place casts if child presents with broken bones, so those patients go to ortho (might do a splint to tide them over). As a general pediatrician if you have specialty interests you might have a subset of patients that you see just in that speciality (ie adolescent medicine, sports medicine, chronic pain, mental health/ADHD)
cjh
cjh
This is perfect! Thank you so much :)
Anita
Emanuele Maccalli
Pediatrician
2
Answers
San Jose, California
Updated
Emanuele’s Answer
A pediatrician's daily life can vary widely depending on what branch of the field they work in. There is a big difference between pediatricians who work in hospitals exclusively and those who work in ambulatory clinics.
Some pediatricians work in hospitals or emergency rooms as "pediatric hospitalists". Their day begins early with a review of the new patients that came to the hospital and were "admitted" overnight to the pediatric service. They see each patient at least once a day and then spend most of the rest of their time deciding on their patient's plan of care (what tests, medication, surgeries or other treatments their patients need to get better). They then interact with specialist consultants, nurses and medical technicians to refine their plan and put it into action. Throughout the day, they check on the progress of their patient's plan of care, making sure they are getting the expected response to treatment and results from tests, and adjusting their medication as needed. They usually head home in the evening, but might need to be available to receive urgent calls about their patients, and might sometimes have to return to the hospitals for emergencies.
Pediatricians who work in ambulatory clinics usually have more regular schedules. They have a "patient panel", a group of patients that they see regularly. Their daily schedules are usually planned in advance with some flexibility for cancellation or drop in appointments. They focus on managing the long term care of their patients, making sure that they remain healthy and get all the preventive care they need.
Some pediatricians work in hospitals or emergency rooms as "pediatric hospitalists". Their day begins early with a review of the new patients that came to the hospital and were "admitted" overnight to the pediatric service. They see each patient at least once a day and then spend most of the rest of their time deciding on their patient's plan of care (what tests, medication, surgeries or other treatments their patients need to get better). They then interact with specialist consultants, nurses and medical technicians to refine their plan and put it into action. Throughout the day, they check on the progress of their patient's plan of care, making sure they are getting the expected response to treatment and results from tests, and adjusting their medication as needed. They usually head home in the evening, but might need to be available to receive urgent calls about their patients, and might sometimes have to return to the hospitals for emergencies.
Pediatricians who work in ambulatory clinics usually have more regular schedules. They have a "patient panel", a group of patients that they see regularly. Their daily schedules are usually planned in advance with some flexibility for cancellation or drop in appointments. They focus on managing the long term care of their patients, making sure that they remain healthy and get all the preventive care they need.
This was super helpful, thank you!
Anita