High Paying Jobs that Involve Working with Children

If you're interested to work with children but you're concerned about the wages you'll earn, then you need to consider some options that are well paying jobs. One of the most popular jobs, which needs one to work with children is that of a teacher. However, in the recent years, there has been lots of controversy regarding American teacher's being grossly underpaid. While we're not here to argue for or against teacher salaries in US, the situation is certainly not as tragic as it seems to be. Most of the starting teacher salaries are above US$30,000 to US$35,000 or more and it is quite decent for someone who is just starting out in his or her teaching career.

Careers
Don't get surprised if I mention that there are some really exciting jobs that involve you to work with children. Following are some of the best paid jobs when it comes to professions in which you have to work with children in most of your working hours. These are basically the high paying jobs in the medical field.

Disclaimer: The salaries mentioned below have been picked from various resources and they're just approximate figures. Fluctuations in salaries is very much possible owing to a large number of factors. The intent of these figures is to highlight the high range pay scale of professionals in the below jobs.

Pediatrician
Pediatricians deal with the health of infants and children. They are responsible for diagnosis as well as treatment of various infections and diseases that the babies come in contact with as well as any genetic defects or chronic conditions present from birth.

Educational Qualifications: To become a Pediatrician in the US, one needs to study and train consistently for years. An undergraduate four-year college degree followed by a four-year 4-year Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) or Doctor of Osteopathy (D.O.) degree is essential requirement. Entering it reputed medical schools of pediatrics requires graduate students to pass the competitive Medical College Admission Test. After passing from a medical school, students are expected to complete 3 years of residency programs in hospitals. Obtaining respective licenses from the State you are willing to practice and certifications from the American Board of Pediatrics after complete residency training is essential to practice as a professional pediatrician.

Salary Range: The pediatrician salary depends basically on the experience, specialty as well as the location of the pediatrician. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average salary is around $135,000 per annum. The pediatrician salary range is $80,000 to $400,000 a year depending upon the sector as well as the experience. For an experience of 1-2 years they can earn $135,000 and more than 3 years it is up to $271,000. It also depends on the sector they are working for, like in Cardiology maximum salary is $607,000 and in Neurology, it is $362,000.

Child Psychologist
Child psychologists deal with the psychological development of the children and try to analyze the changes in their behavior and psychology. They perform educational assessment tests and diagnose learning disabilities in children. Most of their work is related to counseling the child.

Educational Qualifications: To become a licensed child psychologist, one needs a Ph.D. in Child Psychology or Doctor of Psychology degree. Requirements for licensing vary for every state. Many states take supervised examinations before granting licenses to practice this profession.

Salary Range: The child psychologist salary again depends upon the experience, place of work, etc. A person working in schools may earn $60,000 a year whereas one working independently may earn as much as $120,000 a year. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average salary range of child psychologists is $64,000 - $85,000.

Pediatric Nurse
Pediatric nurses perform physical examination (like body temperature, heartbeat rate) and medical examination (like collecting urine samples) of the children, monitor their progress and keep a medical record of it all.

Educational Qualifications: Pediatric nurses are Registered Nurses (RNs). They must have a four-years Bachelor's of Science in Nursing degrees (BSNs). Further, to improve employment and pay scale, they must compulsorily have either a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree or they must be recognized by their respective state board of nursing as advanced practice nurse (APN). They can also become certified pediatric nurses (CPNs) by seeking certifications from the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board (PNCB).

Salary Range: The median salary range of pediatric nurses is around $68,000 - $70,000. Again qualification and experience matters here for earning the salary. For example the nurse with a bachelor's degree, earns around $50,000 a year and with an experience or 3-4 years, the figure may change to $90,000 a year.

Pediatric Psychiatrist
The pediatric psychiatrist, also called the child psychiatrist, deals with diagnosis and treatment of emotional and mental troubles that the children may be facing. They provide counseling as well as medication for the trauma that the child is going through.

Educational Qualifications: An undergraduate degree followed by a medical school education is the minimum requirement to become a pediatric psychiatrist. After completing a four undergraduate degree, candidates can appear for MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) and get a lateral entry in good medical colleges providing 4 year courses in same field. Many medical schools also offer 6 to 7 years M.D. or PhD options to students which is certainly a great boost to career growth. After a M.D. or Phd, students must go for certified internship programs of 1 year followed by a 4 year residency program. Students can also inquire if their medical school provides five year integrated courses for residency programs. Lastly, after completing residential training, students must pass the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CAP) examination, governed by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN). Even before one applies for CAP exams, candidates have to prove to ABPN that they have obtained competence in every area and nothing is incomplete. Licenses from respective state is also required.

Salary Range: The median salary of a pediatric psychiatrist is around $180,000. This salary varies from place to place and depends upon the experience of the professional as well. The range of salary may vary from $143,000 to $200,000 based on the above factors.

Remember that these jobs that pay well demand years of education and hard-work before you qualify to earn such high salaries.