Career Development - Pediatrics

Pediatric residencies last three years. If you pursue Internal Medicine/Pediatrics, residency will last four years. And, if you decide to take a pediatric specialty fellowship, these general last three years.

Just about every organ system is a pediatric subspecialty. These include:

• Neurology
• Pulmonology
• Cardiology
• Gastroenterology
• Nephrology
• Neonatology
• Allergy-Immunology
• Rheumatology
• Emergency Medicine
• Hospital Medicine

This can vary tremendously, depending on the situation that a pediatrician works in.

Qualities that make a good pediatrician include:

• A pediatrician must like children.
• A pediatrician must be patient in order to work with children and their parents.
• A pediatrician must have every other quality that a good doctor should have.

For research opportunities, please contact Dr. Margaret Huntwork. 

Additionally, students may want to pursue research opportunities through the DeBakey Scholars Program. This program offers medical students the opportunity to pursue and complete a longitudinal, structured, closely supervised research experience culminating in a capstone presentation prior to graduation. For more information, contact Dr. Derek Pociask. 

The Pediatrics Interest Group (PIG) sponsors events that foster an interest in pediatrics as a specialty. We work to inform all students about important issues related to child health, regardless of their future specialty. Additionally PIG hosts St Baldricks Day, an annual event that involves Tulane Medical School, Hospital, and School of Public Health. Participants set-up personal websites where they accept donations to either shave their heads or have their hair cut for Locks of Love. All proceeds go to childhood cancer research.

Faculty Facilitator: Dr. Meghan Howell

Dr. Maradith Skalak

We recommend that those in T3 take the required core clerkship. Those interested in pursuing pediatrics should take T4 electives based on their interests. We do not have a recommended list of electives.

One of the most common questions we get asked is “How do I know if I’m competitive for this specialty?” There are a lot of metrics that are provided by sources like the NRMP’s Charting Outcomes report that can help you gauge whether you are a competitive applicant, and help guide your choices of activities. 

The table below shows the 25^th percentile, the median and the 75^th percentile for a number of the more regularly used metrics to gauge competitiveness. It’s important for you to understand what these numbers represent, and why they may be different from the averages you might see elsewhere.

• The 25^th percentile represents the lower range of “normal” for a successful applicant in this specialty.
• The median represents an average for successful applicants in this specialty.
• The 75^th percentile represents the higher range of “normal” for a successful applicant in this specialty.

Medical students are usually over-achievers, who have exceeded expectations throughout their educational years. However, it’s important to realize that overachievement is not always a good thing when it comes to match. Instead, you should aim for “fit.” This means that you should fall somewhere between the 25^th and 75^th percentile on these metrics. Below the 25^th percentile, and you have a relatively low chance of match (25% chance, to be specific). Above the 75^th percentile, and you also have a lower chance of matching (again, 25% chance), as program directors are typically looking for candidates who “fit” their profiles more so than those who exceed those profiles.

Between the 25^th and 75^th percentiles is the sweet spot. This range spans 50% of successful applicants, with only 25% of successful applicants falling above the 75^th percentile and 25% of successful applicants falling below the 25th percentile. The closer you fall to the median (i.e., the 50^th percentile), the better! This doesn’t mean you’re average, but rather that you are fitting the demands of this specialty!

A note about medians vs. means as a measure of “average”: We use medians to determine competitiveness rather than means for a simple reason. Medians are not as warped as means by outliers, or those successful candidates who fall very much outside the average on a particular measure. You may have heard that the “average” Step 2 score or number of publications for a specialty are incredibly high (or low), and you may wonder how it’s even possible to hit this “average.” These unrealistic “averages” are typically means that have been influenced by just a very small number of people who have incredibly high (or low) scores or numbers of publications, and often those high numbers of publications in particular, are the result of having earned a research Ph.D. or having spent years in a research career! This is NOT the expectation, but rather an exception!

No special considerations.

Do well on Step 1 and Step 2.

Do well on all clerkships .

Away rotations are not necessary. Students should only consider away rotations if they have an interest in a specific institution or region AND know that they are quick starters who will “hit the ground running.”

Research projects are not necessary. If a student has a long standing track record of research that will be a plus for many programs. However, spending a month to do a case report with a faculty member or work in a lab will not be beneficial.

AAMC Careers in Medicine

NRMP's Charting Outcomes in the Match 2026

NRMP's Program Director Survey 2024

Tulane’s Department of Pediatrics

American Academy of Pediatrics

Dr. Katrina D’Aquin can put you in touch with potential mentors.

Books :

The Rudolph Matas Library has a nice collection of e-books on pediatrics which is available to all students.