how many years of college dose it take to become a Pedaitric in Emergency care?

Hi Jennifer,

The answer is pretty simple: four years of college, four years of medical school, one year of a Pediatrics internship and two years of a Pediatrics residency. Basically, 11 years -- a long time. So it's important to learn as much as you can about the job and the educational pathways before you decide to take on the 11 year journey!

Also, this question has actually been answered several times already on CareerVillage.org. Make sure to search the existing questions before asking new ones! Examples: https://careervillage.org/questions/1703/how-many-years-of-school-is-needed-to-be-a-pediatrician https://careervillage.org/questions/1309/how-many-years-do-i-have-to-be-in-school-to-be-a-pediatrician and https://careervillage.org/questions/4468/how-many-years-of-school-does-it-take-to-become-a-pediatrician

Good luck and let us know what other questions you have!
- Jared

It sounds long but 11 years is not that long considering that every year is different. I am a practicing pediatrician and I remember high school like it was yesterday. Four years of college is needed. But every year is different because you are taking different classes every semester. You are learning about the world and yourself and you are setting goals and achieving them which builds your confidence. Then medical school. The first two years are mostly in a classroom so its a lot like college except you learn exclusively things in the medical field. The third year you will be learning how to see patients and apply the knowledge you gained in the first two years. And the fourth year you are more independent to care for patients yourself while still learning. After you graduate medical school you are a doctor. In medical school we learn about every major specialty but after we graduate we now pick a specialty work in that field exclusively for 3 years or more. During these years after medical school you DO get a paycheck. Technically you are now working in medicine. But we call it extra training because there is still so much to learn. Frankly, in medicine, we practice life-long learning. We learn from every patient even after training is complete. Pediatrics is 3 years of training but if you want to become even more specialized it could be longer. So yes 4 years of college plus 4 years of medical school plus 3 years of training but believe me each year is completely different and you will never have a more impactful job than helping sick children regain their health. If you want to do this then do not let the time line scare you. It goes by in a flash and now I get to do what I want to do with my life for the rest of my life.