As a medical student, do you ever wonder what it’s like to specialize in pediatrics? Over the years, three pediatricians from around the country who are working in academic settings have taken the time to be featured doctors in the AMA’s "Shadow Me” Specialty Series, which offers advice directly from physicians about life in their specialties. Check out their insights to help determine whether a career in pediatrics might be a good fit for you.
Shadowing Peter Hotez, MD, PhD
- Dr. Hotez, an AMA member, is an academic pediatrician-scientist and vaccinologist. He is also a world-renowned advocate in the fields of global health, vaccinology and neglected tropical disease control. He said every pediatrician in training should have health and public communication skills. “We need a new generation of physicians who know how to engage the public and communicate effectively. There’s a vacuum on this front,” he said, adding that pediatricians should ideally have management skills to head an organization.
- He also said too many young physicians and scientists are excessively focused on their immediate next steps, instead of asking what problem they want to solve in 10 or 15 years’ time. “In this way, you can construct a roadmap to get from here to there. It also makes getting into a prestigious residency, fellowship or academic appointment less important by focusing on the area in which you want to achieve. To be provocative I often say: Where you go to medical school or residency or fellowship ranks among the least important decisions you will make. What you choose to study ranks among the most important.”
Shadowing Nusheen Ameenuddin, MD, MPH, MPA
- Dr. Ameenuddin has more than 15 years in practice, largely in an academic medical center. She said one of the hardest parts of her work has been dealing with “this growing group of loud anti-vaccine and anti-science voices controlling the media and popular narrative on immunizations and spreading mass misinformation and disinformation.” Since she was in residency, she has been “dealing with some type of vaccine hesitance or outright refusal, which are actually two very different issues and require very different approaches.”
- This “erosion of trust and expertise, coupled with the rise of conspiracy theories, has been especially difficult,” said Dr. Ameenuddin, an AMA member. “On the other hand, kids are the absolute best! Even though we see some really sad things, one of the great things about children is that we see resilience and joy even under extremely difficult circumstances.” In fact, “Kids can always say something or do something that makes me smile and remind me of why I chose to become a pediatrician.”
Shadowing Kanani Titchen, MD
- A pediatrician and an adolescent medicine physician, Dr. Titchen is employed by an academic health system. She said one of the skills every physician in training should have for adolescent medicine is the ability to connect, the “ability to listen—really listen with one’s whole self and with love in mind—skills in motivational interviewing and ability to be authentic and in the moment with our patients are essential. Understanding and embodying trauma-sensitive care is also key and currently there’s not much education for this, let alone testing for it.”
- She also said her lifestyle is different from what she had envisioned in training. “I’m much busier than I thought I’d be. Partly, that’s because I’ve chosen to work at an academic practice where I really have three jobs: patient care, teaching and research. In terms of work-life balance, I think it’s hard to beat pediatrics and academic medicine. Still, whatever field one enters, there are daily choices to be made about prioritizing ourselves, our families, our patients, our colleagues and our communities. I don’t really know if any of us ever ‘arrive’ at striking that balance. To me, it feels like an ongoing process and a daily decision.”
The AMA Specialty Guide simplifies medical students’ specialty selection process, highlights major specialties, details training information, and provides access to related association information. It is produced by FREIDA™, the AMA Residency & Fellowship Database®.
Learn more with the AMA about the medical specialties of pediatrics and adolescent medicine.
