Hi all!
I had a few questions regarding the life/lifestyle of a pediatrician and pediatric resident.
- What sort of salary does a pediatric resident have? And what sort of hours? (I'm talking general pediatrics residency here).
- To any current pediatricians out there - do you consider all of the schooling and years spent becoming a pediatrician worth the salary?
- As I'm engaged, I'm having to take into account another person when I consider residency and I'm honestly concerned about the relocation factor that comes into play when being placed into a residency. Has this negatively affected anyone?
Thanks for any additional insight you guys can provide!
- residency salaries within a single institution will be the same in every field for the same level of experience - eg a third year surgery resident and a third year peds resident will make the same. Likewise a 5th year surgery resident and a 2nd year pediatric critical care fellow (both having 5 years experience) will get paid the same. Peds residents at locations with free-standing children's hospitals may get more or less perks than their peers in adult medicine depending on hospital and program policies. In some cases this can be a remarkable benefit. For example, in my residency, the peds residents got $90/month allowance in the cafeteria at the children's hospital regardless of schedule. Meal money at the university hospital was based on number of call nights scheduled (~$12/night at the time I was a resident). If you were an internal medicine resident on a call free month, you got nothing, whereas while a peds resident if you were doing a NICU rotation at the university hospital, and didnt' step foot in the children's hospital all month, you still got your $90.
- residency salaries at different institutions vary. They usually take into account cost of living differences, but even within the same city there may be noticable differences. General though, nationwide all the salaries are within a similar range.
- hours are capped to average 80 hours/week over 4 weeks. You may have weeks where you work 90 or 100, followed by weeks with only 50 or 60.
- as a pediatric intensivist, even fresh out of fellowship, I will make more than the median salary for general pediatricians. The caveat is that I had to spend 3 more years of training. But my salary is about 75% of what an adult intensivist makes typically. For me I think it's worth it. I very consciously made the decision to pick a specialty based on how it it was going to make me feel, rather than what my paycheck was going to look like though. Salary considerations were quite literally the last thing on my list after factors like ideal patient population by age (kids), time in the OR or not (not), inpatient or outpatient (inpatient), lots of procedures vs no procedures (lots), single organ expert or general physiologist (general), and so on. Those were sorts of choices that to varying degrees were going to make me nice to be around or not, something that no amount of money was likely to change. Now would I jump at the chance to become independently wealthy and never have to work again? Of course, play is more fun than work, but that's not my reality so I had to look at how I would find job satisfaction on a daily basis. If the size of your paycheck is a source of job satisfaction then pediatrics is probably not the best field for you because there are many other options that give more sizable chunks of money.
- SO's are always going to have an impact when looking at relocation. If it's not for residency, then it may be for fellowship or that first job. I've seen many, many, many friends make decisions on their next step based on their significant other. That's just part of being in a relationship. Sometimes it's a positive for both - great training for you, the chance for a new start for your SO. Sometime's is not - someone staying at their home medical school/residency program because the training is acceptable, but the SO's job requires them to stay put. In the end, training is only temporary, and with that first job there's a chance for a lot of freedom if you're willing to explore all options.
