While work done in high school will ultimately make no difference to medical schools, it can help students succeed in fulfilling their pre-medical school requirements in college. Advanced courses in the sciences are particularly helpful.
You may apply to medical school with a bachelor's degree in any major, but generally schools require the following coursework: one year of biology, one year of physics, one year of English, and two years of chemistry. If you have already completed a four-year degree but haven't met these requirements, post-baccalaureate programs exist that allow students to satisfy coursework requirements without having to earn another degree.
Though some combined bachelor's and medical degree programs exist, in most cases, medical school is four of schooling after the bachelor's degree. Medical school teaches a general knowledge of the practice of the different branches of medicine.
To become a licensed pediatrician with full rights to practice, you must be admitted to and complete a pediatrics residency program that begins upon graduation from medical school. These programs are run by individual hospitals and consist of three years of modestly paid training in the different disciplines of pediatrics.
On completion of a pediatrics residency, you may pursue employment as a general pediatrician in either a hospital or private practice. In order to pursue a more specialized practice, such as emergency medicine or oncology, a pediatrician must enter a fellowship for an additional three to five years of training.