Dr. David Speert is a pediatrician who sub-specializes in
infectious and immunological diseases. He's the head of a center for understanding
and preventing infection in children.
"The bulk of what I do is research and administration, and I only do about
three months a year of clinical work as a sub-specialist," says Dr. Speert.
His clinical work involves visiting hospitals and providing consultation regarding
patients.
"I think what's most satisfying is that I can link what I'm doing in the
research laboratory to the problems that I deal with when I'm seeing patients,"
says Dr. Speert.
Some people know from a very young age that they want to be a pediatrician
someday. For Dr. Speert, that decision came much later.
"I chose pediatrics... around my third year of medical school," says Dr.
Speert. "I came to a decision to be a physician fairly late. In university
I didn't really know what I wanted to do, or what aspect I wanted to follow,
but I got a clearer sense once I started seeing children as a medical student.
I've always had a special love for children, and that as much as anything
else is what really influenced my decision to do pediatrics."
Pediatricians often speak of their love for children. Dr. John Moore is
no exception.
"I enjoy the interactions with my patients," says Dr. Moore. He's a pediatrician
in Virginia.
"Seeing children and families grow into their roles as children change
over time is fascinating and thrilling for me," says Dr. Moore. "Taking a
new baby all the way through kindergarten and on, and seeing how the child
changes and adapts to our world, and how the families adapt, is thrilling
for me. It gives me a great sense of professional pride to know that I'm there
to help them along their journey."
When Dr. Moore was a child, he admired doctors. But his parents weren't
doctors -- he came from a family of lawyers.
"As a child I always had great respect for my doctors," says Dr. Moore.
"They always seemed to have fun with their job, they were always competent,
they were always fun to be around, and it seemed like a great environment
to pursue."
Even though Dr. Moore thought highly of doctors, he didn't make a firm
decision to become a doctor until after high school.
"When I went to college I looked at a lot of different things," says Dr.
Moore. "I did some journalism, I did some basic science, but I always kept
coming back to a way to take some of my interest in science into a personal
level. And that's how I found myself going to medical school."
"I knew pretty early that I wanted to be a doctor," says Dr. Anita Chandra.
"I probably knew in my early high school years that that was what I was interested
in. Since I liked science, and I liked being around people -- I'm a pretty
social person -- it seemed like a really nice fit."
Dr. Chandra also chose pediatrics because it let her work with children.
"I loved being around children," says Dr. Chandra. "I used to babysit a
ton. I'd always be the person who loved to take care of all her younger cousins
and whatnot, and whenever we were in social settings I'd always play with
the babies. And I happen to be a pretty small person, so it also fit into
why I chose pediatrics."
Now that she's a pediatrician, what does she enjoy most about her work?
"I really like just the basics of it, that I'm helping the growth and development
of children and their families," says Dr. Chandra. "I like teaching kids about
their bodies."
Dr. Chandra also likes that her job involves providing immunizations to
children. "I really feel like that's something that's such a crucial part
of improving the overall world health and it's so nice to me that it's a part
of my job," she says.
Pediatricians face many challenges. It's not an easy profession. For example,
you often have to deal with upset children and parents.
"When you're in pediatrics, not only are you taking care of children, but
for several years at least, the parents are somewhat your patients because
you're really having to deal with their psychological feelings about whatever's
going on with their children," says Dr. Chandra.
"Giving bad news to families is a really difficult part of my work," adds
Dr. Chandra. "And sort of combating hyped-up media hysteria over various things
is challenging. As you can imagine, since I enjoy the whole immunization portion
of my practice, dealing with a lot of the media hysteria over immunization
is somewhat challenging for me."
Dr. Moore recommends that aspiring pediatricians spend lots of time around
kids.
"To try to experience as much as you can, not only with medicine to learn
kind of how we (doctors) think, but also with children," says Dr. Moore. "If
you can get even an internship or a job dealing with children and seeing how
they think, that would prepare you well for this. The more life experiences
you can bring will only make you a richer person and a better doctor."
There's another quality Dr. Moore believes pediatricians should have. It
might surprise you.
"Just about every pediatrician I've ever known has an almost unlimited
capacity for joy," says Dr. Moore. "We have so much fun with life. If you're
really not that sort of person, this may not be a good career for you. Out
of all doctors... I'm biased, but I think we're the most fun."