General Pediatrician or Pediatric NP? (*high school senior, please help!*)

[sarahangel53225]

Hi everyone! I’m a rising senior in high school starting to apply for college, and im really conflicted as to what I want to be after college. For the past couple years, I’ve loved the idea of being a general pediatrician with my own clinic one day. I even did internships and shadowed a pediatrician, which definitely increased my interest in the profession. However, I’ve been doing a lot of research about the work-life balance of a primary care physician, and it seems as though there is not much (unless they work part-time, which means a lower salary). My number one goal in life is to be a mom, and I feel like if I pursue medical school and have kids as early as I would like (late twenties), I won’t be able to spend as much time with them, especially during residency. Part of me wants to go all in and pray it will work out, but the other half wants to be realistic and see if there’s a different career path.
Because I want a schedule where I’ll be able to leave my work at work and home stuff at home, I’ve also considered being a pediatric or neonatal nurse (didn’t get to shadow either though). If I became a nurse, I would still be able to have patient interaction (if not more) and I would have a better work-life balance, I think. I also wouldn’t be in school for as long and can start a family earlier. My only thing about nursing is that I feel like it’s not as respected, and I also like to be in charge, so I would most likely become a PNP or NNP to have more autonomy and such. That is another reason why I don’t know if it’s worth it to go to medical school. If I can do pretty much the same thing a general pediatrician does as a PNP, then what’s the point of spending 11 years in training? I know my salary might be quite lower, but I would sacrifice that for more time with family. I really just don’t know because I know I would love being a Pediatrician (from shadowing and research), but I feel that if I shadowed a PNP, I would also enjoy that. Im not really interested in specializing, since that means more years of training and more sacrifice. So I don’t know if I should just be pre-med and try to shadow more (although that’s not possible right now due to corona), or if I should major in nursing and go from there. Is that a good idea? Will I still be respected and have autonomy as a nurse? Is it as fulfilling as being a doctor? If I did become a Pediatrician, would I be able to achieve work-life balance (most likely would work part-time). Is it worth it if I know for sure I would just do primary care? I would really really appreciate it if someone gave me some advice, as this is all I’ve been thinking about for the last few months!!

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[DrRedstone]

You may be a bit young in your education to know exactly what you want to do with medicine. It is my opinion that the best way to keep your options open is to take the pre-med route. If you decide you want to go to medical school, you'll have the opportunity. If you don't, you can take the PA route. Pediatrics is a great field, no doubt, but you may decide a different field better suits you. I started out in high school thinking I wanted to do pediatrics. Throughout my undergrad years, I changed my mind and decided I wanted to do psychiatry. In medical school, I landed in ophthalmology.

As far as work life balance, primary care specialties in general have a fairly good balance. There are obviously exceptions, but that is the impression I have gotten. I worked with a FM doc who started the day at 7 and ended by 3 every day, just in time to pick up her young kids from school. Keep your options open and prepare for the most rigorous route. Even if you don't take it, you'll be better prepared to take a different route.

 

[deleted480308]

Depends on priority.

If you want money, doctor. If you want to know the most and be able to best care for your patient, doctor. Fastest out of school, RN. Quick out of school and some more money but never in charge and don’t know the most possible to care for your patient, NP.

all can be honorable decisions if you just do the job well

 

[sarahangel53225]

You may be a bit young in your education to know exactly what you want to do with medicine. It is my opinion that the best way to keep your options open is to take the pre-med route. If you decide you want to go to medical school, you'll have the opportunity. If you don't, you can take the PA route. Pediatrics is a great field, no doubt, but you may decide a different field better suits you. I started out in high school thinking I wanted to do pediatrics. Throughout my undergrad years, I changed my mind and decided I wanted to do psychiatry. In medical school, I landed in ophthalmology.

As far as work life balance, primary care specialties in general have a fairly good balance. There are obviously exceptions, but that is the impression I have gotten. I worked with a FM doc who started the day at 7 and ended by 3 every day, just in time to pick up her young kids from school. Keep your options open and prepare for the most rigorous route. Even if you don't take it, you'll be better prepared to take a different route.

You may be a bit young in your education to know exactly what you want to do with medicine. It is my opinion that the best way to keep your options open is to take the pre-med route. If you decide you want to go to medical school, you'll have the opportunity. If you don't, you can take the PA route. Pediatrics is a great field, no doubt, but you may decide a different field better suits you. I started out in high school thinking I wanted to do pediatrics. Throughout my undergrad years, I changed my mind and decided I wanted to do psychiatry. In medical school, I landed in ophthalmology.

As far as work life balance, primary care specialties in general have a fairly good balance. There are obviously exceptions, but that is the impression I have gotten. I worked with a FM doc who started the day at 7 and ended by 3 every day, just in time to pick up her young kids from school. Keep your options open and prepare for the most rigorous route. Even if you don't take it, you'll be better prepared to take a different route.

gotcha. I guess the best thing to do is stay on the pre-med track in college and see what happens from there. Thanks so much for the insight!

 

[sarahangel53225]

Depends on priority.

If you want money, doctor. If you want to know the most and be able to best care for your patient, doctor. Fastest out of school, RN. Quick out of school and some more money but never in charge and don’t know the most possible to care for your patient, NP.

all can be honorable decisions if you just do the job well

This was an interesting way to simplify all of these professions. I have a better view of what I would be doing and I think being a doctor may suit my personality the best. Thanks so much for responding!