Pediatricians provide preventive and medical care for infants, toddlers, children and teenagers. They are responsible for diagnosing and caring for illnesses and infectious diseases that are specific to younger people. Some pediatricians may also specialize in serious medical conditions or pediatric surgery. Daily tasks can include taking medical histories, ordering and reviewing tests and recommending treatment plans.
Being a good pediatrician calls for specialized qualities, and these should be included in your pediatrician job description. Compassion is very important, as is being able to communicate well with children, parents and other healthcare staff. Being detail oriented and having good problem-solving skills are imperative when dealing with medications, surgery and treatment plans.
Pediatricians need to be skilled at working with their hands and should have physical stamina. To get a good idea of what else to incorporate into your pediatrician job description, consult the following example.
Pediatrician Job Summary
Are you passionate about helping improve the health of children? Are you interested in advancing your career? We would like to work with your goals and abilities to find the perfect place for you in our practice. You may choose to work in our clinic, take hospital rounds or combine the two. You will have the opportunity to work with a variety of ages and conditions, both acute and chronic, and make a positive difference in the lives of your patients. We offer great benefits, including health and malpractice insurance as well as relocation support. There is also the potential to be a partner, which can eventually lead to ownership.
Job Responsibilities
- Record medical histories and examine young people from birth to twenty years of age; order diagnostic tests and interpret results to help determine medical condition
- Discuss test results and explain treatments or medical procedures with patients and family members
- Recommend and manage treatment, medication, therapy, vaccinations and additional specialized medical care to prevent or treat diseases, injuries and illnesses; monitor progress and conditions and revise treatments as needed
- Advise and educate patients, parents and members of the community in regards to activity, diet, hygiene and other disease prevention methods
- Design and implement community healthcare programs to aid in the physical and mental development of adolescents and children
- Coordinate and supervise activities of therapists, assistants, nurses, students and other support staff; refer patients to a specialist or other physician when warranted
- Clearly record all patient data, including history, exams performed, past and current medications, vaccination information, diagnosis, treatment plans and prognosis, in corresponding chart
Job Skills & Qualifications
Reqiured:
- Doctor of Medicine specializing in pediatrics
- Current BLS and CPR certification
- Current state medical license
- Minimum five years of pediatric experience
Preferred:
- Bilingual (English and Spanish) with experience serving a multinational, multiracial population
- Experience in supervisory and leadership roles
- Experience with learning and developmental delay disorders
Pediatrician Job Responsibilities
Your pediatrician job description should attract talented professionals, and no section is better suited to the task than the responsibilities section. This is where you can describe the day-to-day tasks of pediatricians and allow readers to visualize themselves in the position and working with your organization. This means the information found in the pediatrician job responsibilities section should be the longest in the job description, but do not make it so long that it becomes intimidating. 6-8 bullet points is the perfect length to provide plenty of information, but not become a laundry list.
You also cannot neglect the formatting of your pediatrician job description. It may seem unimportant, but the way you organize the information directly affects how effective the section is. It should take the form of a bulleted list, but you should also begin every bullet point with a strong action verb. Review some of the demonstrated best verbs that relate to this position specifically below
- Interact with children and their families, explaining medical procedures and terminology and answering inquiries
- Recommend medicine, write prescriptions and observe progress over the course of several weeks
- Comfort nervous children and their families
- Refer patients to specialists to follow up on certain medical conditions
Pediatrician Job Specifications
For the pediatrician job specifications, consider the benefits of separating the qualifications into mandatory and preferred categories. Doing so will make it perfectly clear to candidates when they simply do not qualify without limiting the more talented applicants who may not meet each of the more lenient expectations perfectly. Items like education, working experience or foreign languages are usually dealbreakers, but certain professional qualities or skills may not be. Choosing this formatting strategy for your pediatrician job description gives you the best of both worlds.
The job qualifications and skills section is most effective when brief. While the responsibilities should be the longest section, it is common for this section to be the shortest. However, you should still spend about the same amount of time polishing it. Keep in mind that this information will directly correlate to how many applications you receive for the opening. Speak with your superiors before writing your pediatrician job description to understand exactly what you should look for in candidates, such as:
Must have completed medical school and relevant pediatric programs Two years working experience as a pediatrician preferred Full certification and training with standard medical equipment and machinery required Strong interpersonal and written communication skills and excellent bedside manner