Pediatricians are a necessary member of a comprehensive healthcare team. They receive a relatively high salary regardless of the country they work in. The pediatrician salary in South Africa is R366,251 ($28,243 USD) per year; while in the United States the same professionals make a salary of $144,215 yearly. In the UK, the pay stands at £44,450 ($57,585), while in Canada the pediatrician pay goes up to C$125,000 ($98,991 USD). Australia has a median pay of AU$99,329 ($78,559 USD) yearly for the same job. Salary is not everything as different countries and industries have different benefits, bonuses, and perks. Therefore, see how experience, industry, and location will affect the salary, benefits, and job outlook for a pediatrician’s career. PEDIATRICIAN SALARY INFLUENCING FACTORS A pediatrician salary will vary depending on the information source used to acquire that information. The information reported in this article was gathered from Payscale.com, here are varying numbers of individuals reporting their income for each country. Since a specific salary for pediatricians in New Zealand is not given, the information we got is from a very comprehensive report from Head Medical that shows what the salary for general practitioners is. 1. LOCATION 2. EXPERIENCE Pediatricians in all countries have to go through many years of schooling just to be able to practice medicine. Because of this, they have a certain level of expertise that demands high pay even when they are new professionals. In South Africa, experienced pediatricians will make 35% more than entry-level. While in the United States the growth is 16% from entry-level to experienced professionals. A consideration to take when looking at experience is the years of schooling where the pediatrician is not receiving a full-salary but is gaining experience. Seems that pediatricians lose out on about $500,000 dollars of income when they are in school. Their relatively high starting salary compensates for some of this lost income. 3. INDUSTRY Pediatricians in Australia typically work in specialized pediatric hospitals, but some of these professionals will work in a general hospital that sees pediatric and geriatric patients. But in New Zealand, most of the hospitals see the general population with complex pediatric cases being referred to a pediatric intensive care unit. Pediatricians in New Zealand and Australia often specialize, but not always. The healthcare system in New Zealand is in the public sector. There are 20 health boards that physicians can work for. If a pediatrician has their license in the United Kingdom they are able to transfer it to New Zealand. Pediatricians in the United States will typically work in physician offices or in hospitals. Those who specialize in pediatrics will receive a higher salary than those who do not specialize. Cities that have good pay for pediatricians are San Francisco, San Diego, Salt Lake City, Atlanta, and Houston. While those with pay below the median are New York City, Chicago, and Denver. SCHEDULE & WORKING HOURS The pediatrician working schedule changes based on if they work in a physician office or in a hospital. Frequently, a pediatrician who makes rounds in the hospital also works in a physician office. This pediatrician will start working at around 7 AM to make rounds in the hospital and then see patients in the physician office. The pediatrician will average 4-6 patients an hour and has limited free time during the day. Therefore, they end work between 5 and 7 PM and work four days a week in the United States. BONUSES & BENEFITS Pediatricians in Canada will receive different benefits depending on the province they work in. For example, those in Newfoundland will get up to one year of maternity or paternity leave, life insurance, and a meal allowance. On the other hand, those in Ontario will get 35-37 weeks of parental leave, supplemental unemployment, dental insurance, but no food allowance. Physicians in Canada do not receive benefits for the most part. Pediatricians in New Zealand are eligible for different benefits depending on their citizen status, you can receive more benefits if you are a New Zealand citizen, a permanent resident, an Australian citizen, or a Visa holder. Therefore, New Zealand residents are eligible for health care benefits while those from Australia need to live or plan to live in New Zealand for more than two years to be eligible for benefits. The table below shows the health care benefits that pediatricians receive. This information is complicated and often changes at the local level within a country as mentioned in the previous paragraphs. CAREER OUTLOOK There is a shortage of pediatricians who work in general offices and in specialties. One of the reasons for this is the high cost of education and training. Therefore, the American Academy of Pediatrics is looking into revising their training and funding of new pediatric specialists to make the high amount of education worthwhile. The job growth for pediatricians in the United States is 10% through the year 2024. One factor that may mitigate this growth is the number of physician assistants or nurse practitioners who will be hired to see patients. These positions work under the direction of a physician but can eliminate the need for multiple pediatricians. There were 34,800 pediatricians in the United States in 2014, and it is predicted there will be 38,400 by 2024. CONCLUSION Consequently, a pediatrician career means spending your days working to make children healthy. This can be a rewarding position, but to get to this level a high degree of dedication and sacrifice are required to complete the necessary schooling. Pediatricians have a good salary, but they also have a high cost of working in terms of worrying about insurance and other expenses. Source
