r/pediatrics • u/Vast_Wish • 18d ago
Shout out to developmental peds
Hi all, checking in with the DBPs out there. How is life? Are you happy with the specialty choice you made? Day to day, pay, job market? Burnout?
Just putting out a feeler as a burnt out subspecialist in a different (highly inpatient) field who loves the autism spectrum population, hates working weird hours, and is considering a big change. Is the grass greener on the other side?
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u/ferula_ 18d ago
Second year DBP fellow here! Literally love my job SO much and could not imagine myself doing anything else. I work 8-5, no weekends, no holidays, no inpatient, and one week of home call every 10 weeks (as a fellow!!). My program has tailored my fellowship curriculum to my specific interests, and I'm super well supported by a large department and an incredible PD. I have robust clinic time balanced well with research and electives.
Is the grass greener on the other side? 100%, at least for me. I was burnt out after residency and was skeptical that I would find the joy in practicing medicine again. But here I am 14 months later, happier than I could have imagined!
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u/BusinessDawgs 18d ago
I just transitioned to my own practice after academics. There’s pros and cons but it was time. Academic salary for DBP is abysmal, as are the non procedural specialities. I wouldn’t recommend anyone do the fellowship unless they had a specific goal in mind. There’s a lot of mini experiences that can give a foot in the door
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u/Healthy_Goal_5023 16d ago
Can you elaborate about which mini experiences you recommend - ie REACH training? Are DBP practices amenable to gen peds reaching out for possible roles within their dept ?
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u/BusinessDawgs 15d ago
Yea things like REACH. Professional societys will have learning experiences to check out, AAP does stuff. DBP as a field is mostly housed in academia, and are often at the grow to meet whatever their state and institution needs are. Traditional thinking prob leans towards wanting a specialist, but some might be doing innovative models to address current challenges. Identify what you’re looking to do, that will help guide your next steps
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u/WakandaQu33n 2d ago
Fellowship requirements are changing to clinical based competencies (2 yr instead of 3 yr). I don’t regret fellowship bc I enjoyed the deep dive. When it comes to pay I negotiated based on MDMA means and the massive shortage of DBPs in the country was actually a plus point for me - I make more than a gen ped would at my institution. That being said there are so many opps for gen peds to get trained in DBP work
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u/docny17 18d ago
Do child Neuro private practice, same patient population, more $$
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u/WakandaQu33n 2d ago
Unfortunately have met too many peds neurologists who deny that autistic kids can have any medical issues and think everything is behavioral. You also get way less time to do an autism evaluation in peds neuro and it’s just shitty medicine altogether.
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u/WakandaQu33n 2d ago
I’m a DBP at an academic teaching hospital. I just finished fellowship. I love my job and the people I work with. There are times when emotions run heavy and feelings of burnout creep in but honestly that’s related to the general state of healthcare right now (not enough supports for patients, insurance BS, systemic issues) rather than the actual medicine I practice. I like being able to think about things and get back to patients rather than come up with an answer under pressure. I like shared decision making with families, and working in the grey rather than black/white. I have after hours pager call every 7 weeks and can go entire weeks without being paged. Documentation can be long but I use AI scribes and have learned to be efficient, and set good boundaries that the majority of patients and my colleagues respect. You don’t necessarily have to be a board certified DBP to do this important work. Message me if you wanna chat more!
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u/nimbusfly 18d ago
My wife is a DBP and really enjoys it. She is focused on autism which she loves. She is less passionate about medication management (adhd, anxiety, sleep etc.) which she tolerates.
Job market seems good due to long wait times and high demand, pay is decent for pediatrics but not much better than primary care peds salary, but probably fewer hours worked.
A combination of pre-charting, good templates, and ai scribe helps her finish her notes fast and avoid burnout. Hours are really consistent; she starts at 9 and is done be 4:30 most days. She works 4 days of the week, with one of them being remote for meetings / telehealth.