Pediatric Cardiologists: Heart Doctors of Hope

A pediatric cardiologist is someone who specializes in diagnosing and treating children – infants and adolescents as well – regarding their cardiovascular system, more specifically the heart.

As said before, pediatric cardiologists focus on children’s hearts and cardiovascular systems, which become present at birth or early in their lives. Compare this to their counterpart, a cardiologist, who also focuses on the cardiovascular system but with diseases that appear later in life, leading to closer work in adults rather than children. Some diseases that pediatric cardiologists focus on are abnormal heart rhythms, high blood pressure, and congenital heart disease. Specific procedures for these diseases may be found here.

Pediatric cardiologists however do not work alone. With focusing on such a vital body system, pediatric cardiologists consult and work with many specialists including but not limited to neonatologists, pediatricians, pediatric heart surgeons, pediatric nurses, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, radiologists, and anesthesiologists. Working closely with these specialists allows pediatric cardiologists to further understand the conditions that patients they are treating are undergoing. There are also cases in which they work with other subspecialists to consult other body systems affected by the heart.

Pathway to Become

To become a pediatric cardiologist you must complete an undergraduate education with a bachelor’s degree (although not required, highly recommended to have one in pre-med or science-related fields typically biology or chemistry), medical school, and residency training in pediatrics. This is then followed by a fellowship training in pediatric cardiology and a broad certification through the American Board of Pediatrics, Sub-board of Pediatric Cardiology. This entire process typically takes at least 16 years. Those seeking additional fellowship training typically focus on different areas of the field including imaging, transplant, or electrophysiology. A more in-depth description of the pathway may be accessed here.

Although being rewarding in its respective matter, there are challenges that this job does present. Team working skills, self-awareness, being comfortable taking the lead, and engaging with children are skills that people considering this job should be able to possess. They should also be able to be flexible to odd hours and recognize the serious circumstances that this job entails. A quote from Dr. Juan Alejos who is a pediatric cardiologist at UCLA Health states, “If I’m going to celebrate all the successes, then I also have to acknowledge the “failures.” Dealing with such a heavy subject as a career requires a balance in which day-to-day life activities that include reducing stress.

Those in search of a career in pediatric cardiology have a great chance of becoming one since demand is high with a projection of 7% from 2018 to 2028 due to a sharp decrease of jobs from 2018 to 2019 from 983 to 224 jobs within the U.S. To those concerning the pay, this does come along with a steady salary increase with an average of $238,400 as of 2024.

Personal Take

Pediatric cardiology has become the field I want to pursue because of the rewards of the job. Although I am aware of the difficult bringing of news that this career entails, I believe the reward of seeing children thrive and continue to pursue what they want in life is what this job is about. Being able to say that I would be part of a young child’s life and that I was able to continue that life would be the greatest honor anyone can bestow on me. To me, being a pediatric cardiologist means that another child’s life can mature into the person they dream to become and that is the goal any person in or interested in pediatrics should share.

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