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A Typical Day On the day I job shadowed Dr. Moshe Ipp, he saw around 30 patients. Every morning he sees sick patients and the afternoon is full of patient checkups. |
Top 3 Perks 1) Gratifying work2) Job security for life3) Prestige and doctor title |
Job Culture Indoors, running around the office to different patients, performing physicals, recommending and prescribing treatment, giving vaccinations, referrals, talking to parents, laboratory work, problem solving, long hours, emotionally draining |
My ExperienceI spent an amazing day with Dr. Moshe Ipp, who as well as running his own practice is a professor at the University of Toronto and a pediatrician at SickKids hospital. Dr. Ipp was originally interested in internal medicine, but when he moved here from South Africa as a resident at SickKids where he learned to love pediatrics. I can understand why too, it really is one of the most rewarding type of medicine to practice. You help kids get better and sometimes they are too young even to tell you what is wrong. Good thing the parents are along although this sometimes adds a complicating factor. To be a pediatrician you have to be patient, caring, and very bright – Dr. Ipp certainly is all of these. The day began seeing sick patients. Dr. Ipp and I went room to room maybe seeing around 15-20 kids within 2 hours. Some kids had fevers, rashes, swimmer’s ear, infections, strep throat, and lots more. Dr. Ipp referred patients to dermatologists, gave them prescriptions, gave them urine tests, strep tests, and checked for infections using different techniques and instruments. Dr. Ipp’s years of experience have made him a great diagnostician – I wouldn’t have known what was wrong with half of them. I got to look through an otoscope into a patients ear to see if it was infected, which was pretty neat. I also helped Dr. Ipp with a strep test (which turned out positive) and a urine test (also positive for an infection). The morning was tough since all the kids were unhappy as they were sick and it was tough to cheer them up. In the afternoon I was more excited since the kids coming in were here for regular checkups. The pace was a bit quicker as we went back and forth performing physicals and giving needles. It was a lot more fun since all the kids were healthy and full of energy. However, that changed a little when it was time for the kids to get needles. This is definitely a challenge and Dr. Ipp has a fun way of solving it. In every checkup room he has a massive bubble machine and we turned it on every time smaller kids got needles. They were calm and distracted, which let Dr. Ipp do what he needs to do. The best part for me was that I assisted in preparing the needles. Dr. Ipp taught me how to prepare the needles and syringes and mix together ingredients in some vaccinations. This was surprisingly fun and is a good skill to have mastered if I decide to become a doctor. Shadowing a pediatrician was unbelievable. The work they do is very hard, especially the morning sick calls, but it is incredibly rewarding. Dr. Ipp really enjoys his work and has even published studies for the University of Toronto. He is a passionate doctor and a leader in pediatrics. Check out some of Dr. Ipp’s work and articles he is featured in below: Give less painful vaccine first, pediatricians say Parents mount backlash to vaccine increases
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Requirements 1) Take required undergraduate science courses2) Write the MCAT3) Go to medical school4) Complete a residency focusing on pediatrics- These 4 steps will take a total of 12 years! |
Skills Needed Listening, patience, compassion, communication, people skills, problem solving, able to calm people, sensitivity, near vision, humorous, caring, leadership, reading body language |
The Field - There is always be a great need for pediatricians so if you are one, you have a job for life- However, getting a job in urban centers is a lot harder than rural areas where demand is high |