Pediatric Gastroenterology — Specialty Profile

Exploratory, not prescriptive. This profile blends hard data (pay, match rates, burnout, demographics — each sourced and dated) with generalizations and synthesized online opinion about culture and "who fits." It's here to help you get curious and go find out for yourself — not to tell you who to become. Numbers marked ⟳ verify change every year; check the linked source before you quote one. Last reviewed: 2026-07-25.

Also called: Peds GI, pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology & nutrition. Subspecialty fellowship of Pediatrics. Organ system: the GI tract, liver, and nutrition, in children.

The 30-second version

Pediatric gastroenterology is the field for physicians who want both the hands-on satisfaction of scoping and the long, layered puzzle of complex chronic disease in kids. You diagnose and manage inflammatory bowel disease from childhood through the handoff to adult care, work up the toddler who won't grow, run down chronic diarrhea and abdominal pain, care for children with liver disease and intestinal failure, and place and troubleshoot the feeding tubes that keep some kids alive. Then, in scheduled blocks, you do the endoscopy (EGD, colonoscopy) that makes it a procedural specialty. It's one of the better-paid pediatric subspecialties because endoscopy adds procedural revenue, but it still earns a bit over half of adult GI, a contrast to have before you fall in love with it. That mix is the whole personality of the field: scopes plus chronic kids, reachable through the accessible pediatrics route.

Quick dashboard (details and sources below)
Training after med school Peds residency (3) + Peds GI fellowship (3) = 6 yrs after med school
Total from college start ~14 years (4 undergrad + 4 med school + 3 residency + 3 fellowship)
Competitiveness (as a peds subspecialty) Among the most competitive/well-filled pediatric subspecialties (96% fill) ⟳
Typical full-time pay ~$300,000–$340,000 total comp ⟳
Pay range (structure) ~$240k early-career/academic · median ~$330k · $450k+ senior/high-volume ⟳
Lifestyle Scheduled clinic + scheduled endoscopy; real but comparatively humane call
Burnout ~33% — comparable to primary-care peds, below adult GI ⟳
% women ~69% of fellows (ACGME AY2024–25) — a majority-women trainee pipeline ⟳
DO / IMG accessibility ~15% DO, ~29% IMG of matched fellows (2026 cycle) ⟳

Two-step entry note: you do not match into Peds GI out of medical school. You first match into a general pediatrics residency (an accessible route, and an unusually IMG-friendly one), then apply again during residency to a Peds GI fellowship through the NRMP Pediatric Specialties Match.

What they actually do

Pediatric gastroenterologists manage disorders of the GI tract, liver, and nutrition in children, from newborns to adolescents transitioning to adult care. The work sits in an unusual middle of pediatrics: a procedural subspecialty (endoscopy) grafted onto a deeply cognitive, chronic-disease practice.1 A single week swings between diagnosing and titrating biologics for a teenager with Crohn's, working up a failure-to-thrive infant, managing a child's chronic liver disease or intestinal failure, seeing a clinic full of functional constipation and reflux, and then spending a block in the endoscopy suite. The core skill is being the detective on undifferentiated abdominal complaints and growth problems while also being comfortable managing years-long chronic disease with families attached.

The formal name of the field, pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition, signals how central liver disease and clinical nutrition (feeding disorders, intestinal failure) are, not just the gut.1 Much of the practice is longitudinal: you follow the same IBD, liver, and intestinal-failure kids for years, and families come to know you well.

Representative procedures: upper endoscopy (EGD) · colonoscopy · polypectomy · esophageal/stricture dilation · PEG (gastrostomy tube) placement and management of NG/G/GJ feeding tubes · capsule endoscopy · motility studies/manometry · foreign-body and button-battery retrieval · variceal-bleed management. Endoscopy is roughly a quarter of the job; the rest is clinic, consults, and cognitive chronic-disease care.1

A week in the life: Most attendings split time across four buckets: outpatient clinic (the bulk), endoscopy and procedure blocks, an inpatient consult service, and administrative or academic time. A common profile is roughly 7–8 clinical half-day sessions per week, with self-reported total hours clustering in the low-to-mid 40s (SalaryDr's 26 respondents averaged ~43 hrs/wk including call and admin), modest by procedural-specialty standards, though research and program duties push some higher.1 Procedures are scheduled rather than chaotic: endoscopy runs in dedicated blocks under sedation and anesthesia, and pediatric cases run longer per case than adult GI because of sedation logistics and family involvement, so throughput is lower but the day is planned.1

The training path & time to completion

Medical school (4 yrs) → general Pediatrics residency (3 yrs) → Pediatric GI fellowship (3 yrs) → board-eligible with the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) in Pediatric Gastroenterology.2 This is a two-step entry: you match into pediatrics residency straight from medical school, then apply again during residency to a 3-year fellowship through the NRMP Pediatric Specialties Match (the Medicine and Pediatric Specialties Match, run each fall for the following year's appointments).2

  • Fellowship (3 yrs): ACGME-accredited, and includes a required scholarly/research component.2
  • Board: the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP). Subspecialty certification in Pediatric Gastroenterology requires ABP general-pediatrics certification first, completion of the accredited 3-year fellowship, and passing the subspecialty exam.2
  • Optional further subspecialization: typically +1 year for pediatric transplant hepatology, advanced IBD, motility, or advanced/therapeutic endoscopy.2
  • Total from the start of college: ~14 years (4 undergrad + 4 med school + 3 residency + 3 fellowship); ~15 with an extra advanced year.2

How competitive is it?

Because Peds GI is a subspecialty, "competitiveness" works differently than for a base residency. The accessible part is the front door: general pediatrics residency is one of the more open routes in medicine, and an unusually IMG-friendly one — 30.4% of its filled positions went to IMGs in 2026 against 25.2% across all PGY-1 positions, though its DO share sits at the all-specialty average rather than above it.3 The selectivity shows up at the fellowship step, and here Peds GI stands out.

Most recent cycle (2026 appointment year; match conducted late 2025):2

  • 64 programs · 124 positions offered · 119 filled · 96.0% fill rate. ⟳
  • Peds GI is one of only two pediatric subspecialties offering ≥100 positions that filled above 95% (the other is pediatric cardiology, 98.5%), against an all-pediatric-subspecialty average fill rate of just 78.3%.2 ⟳
  • Many other pediatric subspecialties (infectious diseases, nephrology, developmental-behavioral, adolescent medicine) chronically underfill well below that average, so Peds GI is among the most competitive and well-filled pediatric subspecialties.2 ⟳
  • Composition of the 119 filled positions: 55.5% US MD, 15.1% US DO, 29.4% IMG (11.8% US-citizen plus 17.6% non-US), so the field is a meaningful net importer of DO and IMG applicants while still filling ~96%.2 ⟳ (Exact applicants-per-position isn't cleanly published; verify.)

The honest read: the hard part of the path is getting a strong pediatrics-residency application and then matching the fellowship, rather than squeaking into an ultra-selective residency out of med school. That two-step structure is exactly why the route is reachable for students who build steadily.

Compensation — the robust version

Peds GI pay is moderately documented and genuinely uncertain, because it's a small specialty with small survey samples (SalaryDr n=26; Payscale n=7) and inconsistent definitions (base vs. total comp; academic vs. private). Treat every single point estimate cautiously and lean on the range.4

Where it sits, in one line. Peds GI is a moderate earner among pediatric subspecialties. The ability to bill procedural revenue from endoscopy lifts it modestly above the purely cognitive peds subspecialties (endocrinology, rheumatology, nephrology, ID), but it sits far below adult gastroenterology.4

National number. Depending on source and definition, estimates run from ~$252,000 (Physician Side Gigs' self-reported survey, conservative) to ~$346,000 (MaritHealth), with SalaryDr's 2026 median at $330,000 (avg $325,514). A defensible "typical full-time" figure is ~$300,000–$340,000 total compensation.4 ⟳

The spread (structure). Physician Side Gigs reports a range of $147,000–$325,000 (median $240,000); SalaryDr's geographic examples give a practical band from ~$280k (academic, early-career) to ~$454k (senior academic, 29 yrs' experience). Most practicing peds gastroenterologists land roughly $240k (early-career/academic, low procedural volume) to $450k+ (senior, high-volume, or productivity-heavy hospital/private settings). Clean MGMA 10th and 90th deciles for Peds GI specifically are paywalled; verify.4 ⟳

Starting against experienced: a flat early curve with a late bump. Starting salaries commonly land ~$240k–$290k (academic/hospital), rising toward $330k–$450k with tenure, endoscopy volume, and leadership. Payscale's career curve shows entry ~$200k → late-career +19% over baseline; SalaryDr shows a senior academic at $454k against junior bands of $280k–$290k.4 ⟳

Academic against private, and why it's mostly academic. Peds GI is overwhelmingly academic / children's-hospital-employed, because pediatric endoscopy generally requires pediatric anesthesia and hospital facilities, so pure private practice is uncommon compared with adult GI. Where private and hospital-employed roles exist, SalaryDr suggests they earn ~15–30% more than hospital-employed academic counterparts, with greater income variability. The highest earners are senior faculty, division chiefs, and high-procedural-volume or hybrid roles.4 ⟳

Geography. SalaryDr verified examples (2026): Atlanta (senior academic) $454k · Oregon (hospital) $355k · Montana (hospital) $330k · California (hospital) $315k · Georgia (academic) $280k–$290k. Note a recurring pediatric pattern: California can pay less in nominal terms than lower-cost markets, because large academic supply and high cost of living aren't fully offset.4 ⟳

What drives the pay. Endoscopy is the differentiator, since EGD and colonoscopy add procedural RVUs that keep Peds GI above the cognitive peds subspecialties. But volume is structurally lower than adult GI (fewer screening colonoscopies; children need sedation/anesthesia), which caps the procedural upside.4

The contrast that colors all of it is adult GI. Adult gastroenterology is one of the highest-paid specialties in medicine; across the four instruments below, Peds GI earns 55–64% of it.4 ⟳

Metric Adult GI Pediatric GI
SalaryDr (2026), median $550,000 $330,000
MaritHealth (2026), avg ~$621,000 ~$346,000
Doximity 2025 (2024 data) Avg $537,870 ~$298k derived (adult ≈80% more) ⟳
Medscape 2026 (2025 data) Avg $530,000 no direct line (~$300–340k est.)

Why the gap: adult GI does high-volume, well-reimbursed endoscopy (especially screening colonoscopy) in ambulatory surgery centers, often with ownership/ancillary revenue. Peds GI does lower-volume endoscopy that requires anesthesia and hospital facilities, carries a heavy cognitive/chronic-care load, and is paid on (lower) pediatric reimbursement inside academic/hospital employment. Two things are true at once: Peds GI is well paid for pediatrics and poorly paid for a scoping GI doctor. The subspecialty is chosen for the patients and the intellectual content rather than the pay ceiling.4 For context, general pediatrics is the lowest-paid specialty in Medscape's survey (~$266k, 2026), and the "pediatric subspecialty paradox" is that most peds subspecialties pay at or below general peds despite 3 extra fellowship years; Peds GI's procedural revenue is exactly what lets it escape the bottom.4

A supportive backdrop. Pediatric IBD is rising, and a Nov-2024 study estimates >100,000 US youth under 20 live with IBD, up ~22% (Crohn's) and ~29% (UC) since 2009. AAP and NASPGHAN workforce analyses flag geographic maldistribution and access gaps, a supply-constrained setting that supports recruitment offers and loan-repayment incentives in underserved regions.45

Lifestyle & the schedule bargain

The most-cited pro of Peds GI: it's one of the more schedule-controllable procedural options in pediatrics. So much of the practice is scheduled clinic plus scheduled endoscopy that you get meaningful control over your calendar.1 The tradeoff is chronic clinic volume and documentation load rather than unpredictable nights.

Call is real but comparatively humane. There's genuine after-hours work, and the classic emergencies are acute GI bleeds (variceal bleeds in liver-disease kids, foreign-body and button-battery ingestions needing an urgent scope) plus inpatient consult coverage, but the acuity and frequency are generally lower and more controllable than the acute pediatric subspecialties (PICU, neonatology, peds heme/onc, peds EM).1

Lifestyle rating: 4/5. High predictability (scheduled clinic and procedures, humane call) with the honest caveat that clinic volume and EHR/inbox load are the real daily burden, not chaos.

Wellbeing — the part to take seriously

Burnout: about 1 in 3. A NASPGHAN-led study (Chien et al.) found ~33% of pediatric gastroenterologists reported overall burnout, comparable to primary-care pediatricians and lower than adult GI and many procedural fields. For cross-specialty scale on a different instrument, the AMA's 2025 Organizational Biopsy puts adult gastroenterology at 43.5% against a 41.9% all-physician average and publishes no pediatric row (component rates: ~29% high emotional exhaustion, ~18% high depersonalization).6 Named drivers are structural: insufficient nursing/administrative support, rising patient complexity and volume, excessive on-call coverage, and EHR burden. Women and early-career physicians (under ~44) were at highest risk, tied to heavier clinical loads and managing complex cases early.6 ⟳

Satisfaction and would-choose-again run high. In SalaryDr's peds-GI sample, ~84% were satisfied with their career and ~85% said they'd choose the specialty again, strong numbers for a pediatric subspecialty, likely reflecting the intellectual variety and long patient relationships (small self-selected sample; verify).1 ⟳

The emotional core, and its weight. Peds GI is longitudinal: you follow IBD kids from diagnosis through adolescence and transition to adult care, manage feeding-disorder and intestinal-failure kids over years, and care for chronic liver disease and post-transplant patients across life-changing spans. That continuity is repeatedly cited as the deepest source of meaning and, in the hardest cases (short-gut and intestinal failure, liver failure, transplant), a real source of grief and emotional load.1

Career longevity. The controllable schedule, procedural variety that keeps the work fresh, and lower acute-crisis exposure than PICU/NICU support long careers. Wellbeing infrastructure is spreading (wellness didactics, burnout check-ins, some flexible admin time), though structural fixes to staffing, EHR, and call lag the individual-resilience programming.1

Who's in the field (demographics)

  • Women: 68.7% of the 348 active pediatric GI fellows were women in academic year 2024–25 (ACGME), a majority-women trainee pipeline well above the all-specialty average, and up from ~63% in 2021.7 Women were a majority of trainees but a minority of senior leadership as of 2021 (program directors ~54% women; division chiefs ~25%; department chairs ~29%).8 ⟳
  • DO: ~15% of matched fellows (2026 cycle).2 ⟳
  • IMG: ~29% of matched fellows (2026 cycle), and Peds GI has historically relied meaningfully on IMG-trained physicians in its workforce.2 ⟳
  • URiM: leadership is predominantly White (program directors 70%, division chiefs 80%, department chairs 88% White; 2021), with Black physicians the least represented across fellowship and leadership levels, a stated equity challenge for the field.8 ⟳
  • Workforce trajectory: the Peds GI workforce is projected to roughly double by 2040, faster growth than most pediatric subspecialties, though with geographic, racial, and ethnic access disparities.85 ⟳

Culture, personality & the online stereotypes

Who gravitates here: people who want both the tactile satisfaction and immediate efficacy of scoping and the puzzle-solving of complex chronic disease. Classic Peds GI personalities enjoy the procedure room but would be bored by a purely procedural life; they're drawn to IBD, feeding/nutrition, and liver disease precisely because those are long, layered, multidisciplinary problems with families attached. They like being the detective on undifferentiated abdominal pain, failure-to-thrive, and chronic diarrhea, and they're comfortable with a lot of functional/quality-of-life work alongside organic disease. As always, plenty of people in the field do not fit any single mold.1

The stereotypes. Contested online perceptions rather than facts, each with a humanizing counterpoint:

  • "Adult GI money without the adult GI money." The jab: same organ system, scopes too, roughly half the pay. Counterpoint: the pediatric panel, disease mix, family-centered practice, and continuity make it a genuinely different and, to many, more rewarding job, and it's still among the better-compensated peds subspecialties.1
  • "Feeding tubes and constipation clinic." The caricature: endless functional constipation, reflux, and G-tube management. Counterpoint: those bread-and-butter visits are real and high-volume, but the same clinic runs biologic-era IBD care, liver-transplant work-ups, motility studies, and intestinal-failure rehab, and even "simple" constipation profoundly shapes a child's and family's daily life.1
  • "The peds subspecialty for people who like their hands." Counterpoint: framed as compliment or knock depending on who's talking, it undersells how cognitive the field is, since scoping is maybe a quarter of the job.1

What people say online (synthesized and paraphrased, not quotes): Across trainee and physician forums, Peds GI is consistently described as one of the "lifestyle-plus-procedures" sweet spots within pediatrics, with better schedule control than the acute subspecialties, a procedural component that keeps it interesting, and pay near the top of the peds-subspecialty range. The recurring caveat is the pay gap versus adult GI: commenters note you do a procedural GI fellowship and still earn far less than adult colleagues, which some frame as the price of working with kids and others as a reason to think hard. Others push back that it's still a strong deal within peds, the work is intellectually rich, and job demand is good. Feeding and constipation volume plus EHR and inbox load are the most common day-to-day gripes, the depth of family relationships is the most common thing people say they love.1

Voices from the field. Paraphrased from public writing, with links to the originals:

  • Dr. Kimberley Chien's NASPGHAN burnout research (via NewYork-Presbyterian Advances) finds ~1 in 3 pediatric gastroenterologists report burnout, with early-career physicians and women most at risk, and argues the fixes are structural (nursing and admin support, call and EHR relief) plus camaraderie and meaningful work, rather than just telling individuals to be more resilient.6
  • Sauer, Barnard et al. (Pediatrics, AAP) project the Peds GI workforce to roughly double by 2040, faster than most peds subspecialties, while flagging geographic, racial, and ethnic access disparities as the central challenge, meaning demand persists strongly outside coastal academic hubs.5
  • A gastroenterologist in Doximity Op-Med, writing about adult GI but with a mindset that carries, describes GI as an "all-you-can-eat buffet" that attracts people who want variety and efficacy, blending immunology, oncology, ID, and procedures, with the satisfaction of both saving lives and improving daily quality of life.9
  • A 2009 interview in Paediatrics & Child Health ("Pediatric gastroenterology, are you kidding?") offers a candid counterweight to rosy recruiting. Its dollar figure is of its vintage — starting salaries lagging adult GI by well over $100k despite equal training length — but its structural points have not aged: pediatric procedures take longer, and family-centered visits are time-intensive relative to volume-based reimbursement.10

Why people choose it / why people leave

Why choose it: you genuinely want both procedures and complex chronic cognitive medicine, and few fields balance them this well · longitudinal relationships with kids and families over years · best-in-class schedule control among procedural pediatric options, with comparatively humane call · top of the pediatric-subspecialty pay range thanks to endoscopy · strong job demand and projected workforce growth, especially outside major metros · high would-choose-again and satisfaction rates.1

Why leave or avoid it: the pay gap against adult GI is stark and permanent, with the same training length and a bit over half the money · six years post-MD before attending pay · high clinic volume of functional complaints (constipation, reflux, functional abdominal pain) that some find repetitive · EHR/inbox burden and under-staffing are the top burnout drivers, and early-career load is heavy · the sickest patients (intestinal failure, liver failure, transplant) carry real emotional weight and loss.1

Best fit if: you like using your hands but refuse to give up the diagnostic puzzle · you want a controllable procedural lifestyle within pediatrics and value long family relationships · you're motivated by chronic-disease mastery (IBD/liver/nutrition) more than by maximizing income.1

Not for you if: an income ceiling matters a lot (adult GI or another adult procedural field is the rational move) · you want a purely procedural, high-throughput RVU day · you dislike high-volume functional/quality-of-life clinic work or want a minimal chronic longitudinal caseload · you want the shortest path to attending life.1

The FLI angle — Pediatric GI for first-gen, low-income & immigrant students

Where Peds GI fits FLI realities well:

  • The front door is accessible. You don't need to win an ultra-competitive match out of medical school. You enter through general pediatrics residency, one of the more open routes in medicine and an unusually IMG-friendly one, and only then apply to fellowship.32 For a student without a pedigree or insider guidance, that two-step path is more forgiving than the specialties that gate everything at the residency step.
  • A real DO/IMG lane at the fellowship level too. ~15% of matched Peds GI fellows are DOs and ~29% are IMGs, and the field has long relied meaningfully on IMG-trained physicians, a genuine rather than token entry point.2
  • Top-of-peds pay, driven by procedures. Within pediatrics, Peds GI is one of the better-compensated choices because endoscopy adds procedural revenue, a meaningful margin above the cognitive peds subspecialties for a student who needs the training to actually improve earning power.4
  • Geographic flexibility and demand. The workforce is projected to roughly double by 2040, with the sharpest access gaps outside coastal academic hubs, so jobs and their recruitment and loan-repayment incentives exist near family or in underserved regions rather than only a few elite metros.45

Risks to name honestly:

  • It's a long road to the paycheck. Six years of post-MD training (3 residency + 3 fellowship) before attending income, three of those years at fellow pay, is a real cost for anyone supporting family or servicing loans. The shortest path to attending life this is not.12
  • The adult-GI contrast is permanent. You'll do a procedural GI fellowship and still earn a bit over half of an adult gastroenterologist with the same training length. If maximizing income is the priority, that gap is the single most important number on this page, and it never closes.4
  • Early-career burnout risk is real, and it's structural. Women and early-career physicians carry the highest burnout risk, driven by clinical load, staffing, and EHR rather than personal weakness. For a first-gen physician who feels pressure to prove themselves by saying yes to everything, that's worth planning around.6

Bottom line: Peds GI is one of the more reachable procedural specialties for FLI students, with accessible entry through pediatrics, a real DO and IMG lane, top-of-peds pay, and demand outside the coastal hubs. The honest tradeoffs are the long six-year training tail and a permanent pay gap versus adult GI. If the patients and the puzzle pull you more than the pay ceiling, it's a strong fit; if income speed is the constraint, weigh the adult-GI contrast seriously.

Subspecialties & where you can steer

None are required, and several are pursued as a typical +1 advanced (4th) fellowship year.12

  • Transplant hepatology / advanced liver disease. Highest-acuity, most emotionally intense; centered at transplant centers, often a 4th-year advanced fellowship.
  • IBD (inflammatory bowel disease). The "biologic-era" cognitive powerhouse; dedicated advanced IBD fellowships exist; heavy longitudinal relationships and rapid therapeutic change.
  • Motility / neurogastroenterology. Manometry, functional GI disorders; a niche procedural-diagnostic corner.
  • Nutrition / intestinal failure / short-gut. Intensive multidisciplinary care of the most fragile chronic kids (TPN, gut rehabilitation); a defining "why peds GI" mission for some.
  • General / community Peds GI. The highest-volume mix of constipation, reflux, abdominal pain, and celiac plus routine endoscopy; the most schedule-controllable and often best-compensated in private/hospital-employed settings.

Fun facts

  • Button-battery and magnet ingestions are among the true Peds GI emergencies. A swallowed button battery can cause caustic esophageal injury within hours, making it one of the field's genuine "drop everything" scopes.1
  • Peds GI is one of the few fields where you'll place, manage, and troubleshoot feeding tubes (NG, G, GJ) as a core part of the job, and for some kids that hardware is life-sustaining.1
  • The Peds GI workforce is projected to roughly double by 2040, unusually fast growth for a pediatric subspecialty, yet access gaps by geography and race are the field's stated central challenge.5
  • Endoscopy is the structural reason a "kids' doctor" out-earns most peers in pediatrics, since the procedural billing is what lets Peds GI sit atop the peds-subspecialty pay scale.4
  • "Hepatology and nutrition" is baked into the formal name, pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition, reflecting how central liver disease and clinical nutrition and intestinal failure are, not just the gut.1
  • Many peds IBD and hepatology programs now build formal transition clinics to hand patients to adult GI, a recognition that these relationships can span more than a decade.1

Sources

Footnotes

  1. Lifestyle, culture, day/week structure, procedures, satisfaction/would-choose-again, sub-subspecialties, decision framework, fun facts, and synthesized online sentiment (r/pediatrics, r/medicalschool, SDN — paraphrased, no quotes). Pediatric Gastroenterology lifestyle/culture research compilation (mid-2026), drawing on SalaryDr (~43 hrs/wk; ~84% satisfied, ~85% would choose again), NASPGHAN workforce/wellbeing work, and community sentiment. SalaryDr: https://www.salarydr.com/salaries?specialty=Pediatrics+-+Gastroenterology ; NASPGHAN: https://naspghan.org/ . ⟳ SalaryDr panel size: n=26. A self-selected physician panel; the n is disclosed here because it is what the figure rests on. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17 ↩18 ↩19 ↩20 ↩21 ↩22 ↩23 ↩24 ↩25

  2. Training path, board, fellowship structure, and match/competitiveness data. NRMP, Results and Data: Specialties Matching Service, 2026 Appointment Year (rev. May 2026): 64 programs, 124 positions, 119 filled, 96.0% fill; composition of the 119 filled positions 55.5% US MD / 15.1% DO / 11.8% US IMG / 17.6% non-US IMG. Corrected 2026-08-17: the composition was previously given as ~53% / ~15% / ~28% and labeled "filled positions". Those are NRMP's shares of the 124 positions offered; on the filled denominator the report's own Table 2 gives 66 / 18 / 14 / 21 of 119, which is 55.5% / 15.1% / 29.4% combined IMG. The three offered-denominated figures summed to 96, the fill rate, which is what made the mislabeling look internally consistent. https://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/SMS_Results_and_Data_2026_Revised-20260522.pdf . NRMP press release, "Results for the 2025 Medicine and Pediatric Specialties Match" (Dec 2025): https://www.nrmp.org/about/news/2025/12/nrmp-celebrates-results-for-the-2025-medicine-and-pediatric-specialties-match/ . AAP News, "Pediatric fellowship fill rate increases to 78.3%" (2026): https://publications.aap.org/aapnews/news/33913/Pediatric-fellowship-fill-rate-increases-to-78-3 . ABP subboards: https://www.abp.org/about/current-subboards ; ACGME pediatrics specialties: https://www.acgme.org/specialties/pediatrics/overview/ ; AMA fellowship match summary: https://www.ama-assn.org/medical-residents/medical-fellowships/dig-nrmp-fellowship-match-data-medicine-pediatrics . ⟳ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16

  3. General pediatrics as an accessible base-residency route. NRMP, Results and Data: 2026 Main Residency Match, Table 2: pediatrics (categorical) offered 3,126 positions and filled 2,951. Of those filled, 623 went to US DO seniors and graduates (21.1%) and 897 to IMGs, US-citizen and non-US combined (30.4%). Against the all-PGY-1 baselines from the same table — 21.5% DO and 25.2% IMG of 38,354 filled positions — pediatrics is at the DO average and well above it on IMG. https://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Main_Match_Results_and_Data-2026.pdf . Corrected 2026-08-17: this footnote previously read "~18% DO of PGY-1 positions; ~99% DO senior match success; ~840 IMGs matched" and cited the NRMP match-data landing page rather than a report, so none of the three could be checked. The ~840 pins the edition to the 2025 Match (841 IMGs); ~18% matches no cycle from 2022 to 2026 on either denominator; and the ~99% was an all-specialty DO senior placement rate (98.1% in 2026), not a pediatrics figure. ⟳ ↩ ↩2

  4. Compensation — national figures, spread, starting-vs-experienced, academic/private, geography, and the adult-GI contrast. SalaryDr, Pediatrics-Gastroenterology (2026): median total $330,000, avg $325,514 (n=26); adult GI median $550,000. https://www.salarydr.com/salaries?specialty=Pediatrics+-+Gastroenterology ; https://www.salarydr.com/specialty/gastroenterology . MaritHealth (2026): Peds GI ~$346k avg; adult GI ~$621k. https://www.marithealth.com/o/-/pediatric-gastroenterologist/salary ; https://www.marithealth.com/o/-/gastroenterologist/salary . Physician Side Gigs pediatric-specialty survey (mid-2023–mid-2024): avg $252k, median $240k, range $147k–$325k. https://www.physiciansidegigs.com/average-salary-for-pediatric-specialties . Payscale (2026, n=7, low-confidence): base ~$196k, career curve to +19% late-career. https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Pediatric_Gastroenterologist/Salary . Doximity 2025 (2024 data): adult GI average $537,870, "≈80% more" than Peds GI (→ ~$298k derived). Corrected 2026-08-17: the adult-versus-pediatric table labeled this figure "Median" while its other three rows were labeled by their own instrument, so one row read as a median against three averages, which is the mistake that table's format exists to prevent. Doximity reports averages: its 2025 report surveyed more than 37,000 full-time US physicians on 2024 earnings and publishes "average annual compensation" by specialty, controlling for specialty, metro, gender, years in practice and self-reported hours (https://investors.doximity.com/news/news-details/2025/New-Doximity-Study-Shows-Modest-Physician-Pay-Growth-Amid-Deeper-Workforce-Strain-Reimbursement-Pressures/default.aspx). Three other pediatric profiles on this site already describe the same report as reporting means. https://www.doximity.com/reports/physician-compensation-report/2025 ; https://contractdiagnostics.com/blog/2025-doximity-physician-compensation-report-know-your-worth/ . Medscape 2026 adult GI ~$530k, general pediatrics ~$266k: https://www.nuaxia.com/post/medscape-pediatrician-compensation-report-2026 ; Barton Associates GI guide 2026: https://www.bartonassociates.com/gastroenterologist-salary-guide-2/ . MGMA (deciles paywalled — verify): https://www.mgma.com/physician-salary-data . ⟳ On Marit Health: it publishes a panel of self-reported physician salaries, and displays MGMA and AMGA benchmarks beside them that are masked unless you create an account. The figure quoted here comes from the self-reported panel, not from either benchmark. Read it as crowd data: unweighted, of unstated sample size, and directional. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16

  5. Workforce growth (projected to ~double by 2040; access disparities) and rising pediatric IBD (>100,000 US youth <20 with IBD; +~22% Crohn's, +~29% UC vs. 2009). Sauer/Barnard et al., "Child Health Needs and the Pediatric Gastroenterology Workforce: 2020–2040," Pediatrics (AAP) 2024: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2023-063678K (PubMed 38300013; ABP summary https://www.abp.org/publications/child-health-needs-and-pediatric-gastroenterology-workforce-2020-2040 ). Crohn's & Colitis Foundation pediatric IBD prevalence study (Nov 2024): https://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/landmark-study-reveals-over-100000-american-youth-living-with-inflammatory-bowel-disease . ⟳ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  6. Burnout in Peds GI (~33% overall; ~29% emotional exhaustion, ~18% depersonalization; women and early-career highest risk; structural drivers). Chien K. et al., "Physician Burnout in Pediatric Gastroenterology," JPGN / PubMed 36574001 (2022): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36574001/ . NewYork-Presbyterian Advances in Pediatric Gastroenterology summary (2023): https://www.nyp.org/advances/article/pediatric-gastroenterology/new-research-sheds-light-on-physician-burnout-among-pediatric-gastroenterologists . ⟳ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  7. Fellow gender. ACGME Data Resource Book, Academic Year 2024–2025, Table C.21: pediatric gastroenterology, 69 programs, 348 active fellows, 239 female (68.7%), 108 male (31.0%). https://www.acgme.org/globalassets/pfassets/publicationsbooks/2024-2025_acgme_databook_document.pdf ⟳ ↩

  8. Leadership demographics — majority-male and predominantly White; URiM underrepresentation; data year 2021. Sanghavi et al., "Diversity in Selected Leadership Positions in United States Academic Pediatric Gastroenterology Programs," JPGN 2022: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34620758/ . Corrected 2026-08-17: the fellow-gender figure formerly cited here (~63% women, 2021) has moved to 7, which carries a current count. Sanghavi remains the source for the leadership half, which has no ACGME equivalent. ⟳ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  9. Weston Bettner, MD — Doximity Op-Med, "To This Gastroenterologist, the Field Is an 'All-You-Can-Eat Buffet'" (2023; adult GI, mindset transferable). https://opmed.doximity.com/articles/to-this-gastroenterologist-the-field-is-an-all-you-can-eat-buffet-d9772824-5702-4672-86d3-428120c8429c ↩

  10. "Pediatric gastroenterology — are you kidding?" interview, Paediatrics & Child Health / PMC2658128 (2009) — candid look at the adult-vs-peds pay gap, longer pediatric procedures, and time-intensive family-centered visits. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2658128/ ↩

Researched with AI assistance and reviewed by hand. How this site is made