In your first year at medical school, your work focuses on developing the basic skills and science you'll need to practice medicine. Biochemistry, pharmacology, psychology and anatomy are a sample of the science courses you'll take in your first year. You'll also study medical ethics and the laws you'll encounter in your career.
The second year of medical school builds on the education and experiences of the first year. Your science classes continue with microbiology, pathology and physiology, in addition to the courses found in year one. Students of pediatric medicine will also learn important skills necessary to perform work as a doctor. In a class like Dartmouth's course "On Doctoring," you'll learn to take patients' medical histories, diagnose illnesses and examine patients. Children are often adorable and sweet, but they're usually not mature and can be difficult when they're sick or hurt. Your training on how to deal with patients begins in your first year and gets honed in your second.
Most students in medical school begin working with patients in their third year, although they're closely monitored. You may choose to work at a local hospital or clinic, while some other schools require you to spend time in an inpatient and an outpatient setting. Dartmouth Medical School requires students to spend three to four weeks at an inpatient teaching site and another three to four weeks at an outpatient site. During these courses of observation, you will learn vital skills such as patient interaction and diagnosis of illnesses.
You'll spend the fourth year of med school working hands-on at hospitals and clinics. Primarily, you spend your final year in rotations, which will put you through several different areas of practice in a relatively short period of time. This should help you to determine if you want to stick with pediatrics for your career path, or change to another field. During this time, you can also decide if you want to specialize in an area of pediatric medicine, such as pediatric oncology, pathology or enter a family practice. While you won't be taking courses in the traditional sense, you'll still be receiving lectures and demonstrations by professionals in the field. Also, since you're not a doctor, your hands-on work is limited while you're still in medical school.