In the career of a international peditrian, what is the day to day life of a professional in this field?

Hi! I'm so glad to see your interest in this field. I am a physician and have been working with children who have HIV/AIDS in developing countries for the past eight years (mostly East Africa and rural China). There is much work to be done, so I strongly encourage you to following your interest. It's very rewarding!

There are different approaches to this type of career. As you mention, you could become a pediatrician and do field work. That would require a four year college degree, followed by four years of medical school and three years of residency in pediatrics. It's a long road, but well worth it. One way to see patients in other countries is to join a group like Doctors Without Borders (or Medecins Sans Frontieres, MSF). They place doctors all over the world (typically for two years at a time) and primarily provide direct care. They also do some research, such as which treatments are most effective and how best to provide those treatments. The pay isn't great, but it's a great organization and a great way to spend some time overseas.

Another route to go is public health. That also requires a four year college degree. A two year master's degree will give you more opportunities, but a four year PhD will allow you to be a leader in the field. You can get started without the graduate degree and go back to school if you like. In public health, you can work for non-governmental (like Save the Children) or governmental agencies (like the World Health Organization) in developing healthcare systems for children (and adults). It allows you to impact more peoples lives, but you do not get the immediate rewards of day-to-day care.

I actually do both, which I find really rewarding. I'm primarily a clinical researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital with projects based in East Africa. I see patients in the US one day a week and also spend time in the hospital when I'm visiting my projects in Africa. I used to work for the Clinton Foundation in China, where I focused more on policy work (i.e. pubic health). Doing work overseas can be a challenge if you have a family or other responsibilities in the US, but it can be managed. I have a husband and three children, and we make it work. I lived in China with them for a few years, and we will likely spend a few in Africa once my youngest is a bit older.

Please let me know if you have specific questions!

It’s wonderful to hear you’re interested in helping bring healthcare to the next generation of children in developing countries. In the field of global health, numerous career paths are available to you, and nearly all of them are in need of capable individuals in order to effectively combat global epidemics such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

Jessica did a great job of breaking down the two primary career paths of global health professionals above—the path of a physician or a public health professional. I am not physician, but like Jessica, I used to work on public health policy initiatives with the Clinton Foundation in Africa. There, I was exposed to a number of different technical specialists all working to improve access to medicine and the quality of healthcare in developing countries. A few examples of the different professional backgrounds of global health workers at the Clinton Foundation are as follows:
-Supply chain experts and business professionals (Bachelors and MBAs)
-Doctors (MDs)
-Physician’s assistants (PAs)/nurse practitioners (NPs)
-Pharmaceutical/medical device/ lab diagnostics professionals
-Health economists/policy experts (MPHs/MAs)

In answering your specific question about the day to day life of a global health practitioner, I thought it best to include a link to a Doctors Without Borders report that contains a good example of what a 'day in the life' of your potential future professional could look like. Please copy and paste the following link into your browser (the piece, titled, "A Day In The Life", is on pages 6 through 9).

https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/publications/ar/us2001.pdf

If you have any additional questions, please let me know. Best of luck!