Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
Pediatricians, General
Diagnose, treat, and help prevent diseases and injuries in children. May refer patients to specialists for further diagnosis or treatment, as needed.
Also called: Developmental Pediatrician, Emergency Room Pediatrician (ER Pediatrician), General Pediatrician, Group Practice Pediatrician, Medical Doctor (MD), Pediatric Emergency Medicine Physician
- Median pay in Greater Boston
- $221,170
- $106.33/hr
- Jobs in Greater Boston
- 1,860
- Massachusetts 2024–2034
- −3.3%
- 70 openings a year
- Typical U.S. entry requirement
- Doctoral or professional degree
- plus Internship/residency
Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.
Pay range in Greater Boston
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $125,170 | $172,100 | $221,170 | $324,870 | $324,950 |
10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.
What you’d do
- Prescribe or administer treatment, therapy, medication, vaccination, and other specialized medical care to treat or prevent illness, disease, or injury in infants and children.
- Examine children regularly to assess their growth and development.
- Treat children who have minor illnesses, acute and chronic health problems, and growth and development concerns.
- Examine patients or order, perform, and interpret diagnostic tests to obtain information on medical condition and determine diagnosis.
- Advise patients, parents or guardians, and community members concerning diet, activity, hygiene, and disease prevention.
- Explain procedures and discuss test results or prescribed treatments with patients and parents or guardians.
AI and this job
AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.
Higher exposure72 of 100
The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:
- AIOE 77
- Language-model AIOE 80
- GPTs-are-GPTs 59
Observed AI use today: Little or none (Anthropic Economic Index)
General pediatrics has higher AI exposure, meaning AI tools can help with some tasks, such as reading test results and keeping records. Observed AI use in this job is little or none so far. Examining children, checking growth, and advising parents are tasks that depend on in-person care and trust. Massachusetts job counts are projected to fall (-3.3%) from 2024 to 2034, in part because the number of children is expected to shrink, which limits demand.
Likely to change
- Interpreting diagnostic test information
- Keeping patient and growth records
Still relies on people
- Examining and comforting children in person
- Advising parents on health and prevention
What federal projections say
“Demand change - share decreases as the pediatric population shrinks, constraining demand for pediatricians.”
Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.
Training near Boston
College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).
0 programs near Boston (plus 3 graduate)
No programs below a master’s degree near Boston map to this job. Tick the box above to see graduate programs.
Related occupations
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