A physician assistant specialized in pediatric care — providing primary or specialty pediatric services alongside pediatricians, handling well visits, sick visits, chronic disease management, and the procedural and clinical work that PAs do across pediatric settings.
Most days tend to involve pediatric patient visits in primary care or specialty clinic — well-child checks with developmental screening, sick visits, chronic condition management, and family education. You'll often see 18-25 patients per day in busy practices, work alongside pediatricians on complex cases, perform routine procedures (suturing, joint reductions, skin biopsies depending on setting), and partner with families on management.
The variance between settings is real — primary care pediatric PAs work in independent pediatric practices, FQHCs, and pediatric departments of multi-specialty groups; specialty pediatric PAs work in subspecialty clinics (cardiology, oncology, gastroenterology, neurology); acute care PAs work in pediatric inpatient units, PICU, NICU, or pediatric ER; school-based PAs serve students through school health programs. PA-C plus pediatric experience and CAQ in pediatrics support specialty practice.
People who tend to thrive here are comfortable with developmental dynamics of pediatric care, capable of family-focused communication, and energized by working with children. PA-C certification plus pediatric clinical experience anchors paths. The work tends to offer strong compensation, schedule flexibility (compared to physicians in many specialties), and meaningful pediatric impact, with the trade-off being the often-modest compensation relative to adult specialty PAs — for those drawn to pediatric care, the role offers durable practice.
Where this role sits in the broader career landscape — and where it can take you.
Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.
Roles with similar work and overlapping career paths
View all Healthcare roles →A physician assistant specialized in pediatric care — providing primary or specialty pediatric services alongside pediatricians, handling well visits, sick visits, chronic disease management, and the procedural and clinical work that PAs do across pediatric settings.
Median pay for a Pediatric Physician Assistant is about $133K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $95K to $182K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking, Service Orientation, Social Perceptiveness, and Active Listening.
Most people in this role hold a master's degree.
Employment in this field is projected to grow about 20.4% through 2034, with roughly 155,540 people working in it today (BLS).
Closely related roles include Doctor Assistant, Anesthetic Assistant, and Physician's Assistant.
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