When you’re a baby there are a couple of things you’re not very good at,
for instance, paying rent.
It’s pretty hard to hold down a solid job when you can’t even hold down solid food.
And I don’t know whether or not you know this, but kids and babies need a lot of medical attention.
Very demanding, but that’s where a paediatrician comes in.
They’re a doctor that specialises in taking care of children, babies and young people.
It’s actually a pretty interesting job,
and today I’m gonna find out what it’s like to do that job,
and what sort of person is absolutely gonna love it as a career.
Weeeeeee! Ow, that hurt.
There’s more than just one type of doctor, but if helping kids appeals to you
then you’ll need to do things like analyse test results, work with other specialists
and even refer children to hospitals, depending on the problem.
It’s a very challenging career, but if you’re up for it, it can be super rewarding.
- Dr. Gav! - G’day Hans, how are you?
Good mate, great to meet you.
Hey I’ve got some questions about being a paediatrician. Can you help me out?
- I absolutely can. Come this way. - Let’s do it.
So Hans, what would you like to know?
- Alright Dr. Gav, first of all you’re a paediatrician. - I am.
What is that and how are you different to another doctor?
Well, as a paediatrician I only look after children and teenagers.
So, that means from birth until their 18th birthday.
Right, and how did you get into that in the first place?
How did you decide that you wanted to specialise in children?
Well, I took a bit of a long journey to become a paediatrician.
When you finish medical school, you typically spend two years in a hospital
and then you decide which part of medicine you want to do. So, I chose to do paediatrics.
You need to have a friendly disposition because kids are smart.
They know when people are genuine and when people aren’t genuine.
Probably one of the biggest skills you need to be a good paediatrician
is to be able to engage a child because if the child doesn’t trust you, you can’t examine them.
Walk me through a typical day for you.
So, what time do you come to work? What sort of things do you have to do throughout the day?
8 to 8:30 I’m checking my emails, making the telephone calls that I need to make.
then I’ll usually head over to the ward and I always have about three to four inpatients,
and then usually for me, I go into a clinic from 9 O’clock till lunchtime,
and then in the afternoon catch up on some admin.
On a bad day I’ve got two clinics and I can see anywhere from six to twelve patients at a clinic
so it can get fairly hectic, which is taxing.
Sometimes, you know, we all have our days when we’re absolutely on top of it,
and other days when we’re not 100% and it is hard to keep up, but that’s what I do.
I also do a lot of teaching, and I love teaching.
Because, what I do is I teach those junior doctors coming through how to be a good paediatrician,
how to be a good doctor, and how to interact with children and their families.
Right, OK so there’s a thousand different things you do every single day, what’s your favourite?
Working with children. It’s honestly the best job in the world,
and you know, just the small differences that I and the people I work with are able to make for those kids.
And it maybe something as simple as treating an infection
or providing a cast so they walk better or just those little things that you can do
to improve their day to day life. That’s pretty awesome.
- Cool! Alright, it’s time for you to give me the edge. - Absolutely.
Three questions, I’m gonna fire them at you. Give us the nutshell, here we go.
How do I become a paediatrician if I want to do it?
When you finish your general medical training and start working in hospitals,
usually within the first couple of years you need to decide what part of medicine you’re going to do.
Are you going to do adult medicine? Are you going to be a surgeon? Are your going to be a paediatrician?
- Medical school. - That’s it
- Straight up. - That’s it.
Cool! Second question: What sort of person is gonna love being a paediatrician,
and is gonna be really good at it?
Well, obviously you need the medical school degree,
but being a being a people person and being able to interact and empathise with children and their families.
- And maybe a problem solver too? - Gotta be a great problem solver.
Cool. alright, and last question:
If you could offer a piece of advice to somebody who wants to be a paediatrician, what would you tell them?
This is the best job, I think, being a paediatrician. And the reason it’s the best job,
is you get to work with children and their families and you get to make a difference for them.
- Fantastic, Dr. Gav you’re inspirational! - You are welcome my friend.
- Now I do have a sticker for you, - Yes!
- Because that’s what I do in my clinic. - I’m a dinosaur!
- Thank you very much you’ve done a great job. - Oh stop it.
Yes kids can be loud and confusing and messy, kind of like me at dinner time,
but if you are compassionate, and love kids
and you wanna make a difference at the beginning of someone’s life,
then you’ve gotta get more information ‘coz this could be the career for you.