Pediatric Surgeons

AI & job outlook

What today's research says about this occupation's exposure to AI, how AI is actually being used in it, and where employment is headed. These are positions within published studies — measures of exposure and usage, not predictions that this job will disappear.

Exposure to current AI

Each study uses its own scale, so the raw scores are not comparable across rows — the percentile (this job's rank among all U.S. occupations with data) is the comparable figure, and sizes the bars.

OpenAI's exposure study scores tasks three ways: with a language model alone (α 0.1), with simple added tooling (β 0.4), and including AI-powered software (γ 0.6). Higher means more of the job's tasks could be done at least twice as fast — not that they will be automated away.

How AI is actually used in this job

Among measured AI assistant conversations mapped to this occupation (Anthropic Economic Index, 2026-01-15), these task types came up most. These are shares of observed AI conversations — not shares of the job, of worker time, or of what could be automated.

Job outlook

Independent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projection for 2024–2034 — a labor-market forecast, not an AI-impact forecast.

“Annual openings” counts new jobs plus replacements for workers who leave the occupation, so it can be large even when growth is modest.

Tasks

All 18 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, ordered by importance. Each links to its own page with AI-exposure and observed-use detail.

• Analyze patient's medical history, medication allergies, physical condition, and examination results to verify operation's necessity and to determine best procedure.
• Conduct research to develop and test surgical techniques that can improve operating procedures and outcomes.
• Consult with patient's other medical care specialists, such as cardiologist and endocrinologist, to determine if surgery is necessary.
• Describe preoperative and postoperative treatments and procedures, such as sedatives, diets, antibiotics, or preparation and treatment of the patient's operative area, to parents or guardians of the patient.
• Direct and coordinate activities of nurses, assistants, specialists, residents, and other medical staff.
• Examine fetuses, infants, children, and adolescents, and diagnose health issues to determine need for intervention, such as surgery.
• Examine instruments, equipment, and operating room to ensure sterility.
• Examine patient to obtain information on medical condition and surgical risk.
• Follow established surgical techniques during the operation.
• Inform parents and guardians of child's health problems and surgical procedures through various channels, such as in-person and telecommunication systems.
• Interpret results of preoperative tests and physical examinations.
• Manage surgery services, including planning, scheduling and coordination, determination of procedures, or procurement of supplies and equipment.
• Monitor patient's recovery, making follow-up visits and using postoperative assessment techniques, such as blood and imaging tests.
• Operate on fetuses, infants, children, and adolescents to correct deformities, repair injuries, prevent and treat diseases, or improve or restore patients' functions.
• Perform transplantation operations, such as organ transplants, on fetuses, infants, children, and adolescents.
• Prepare case histories.
• Provide consultation and surgical assistance to other physicians and surgeons.
• Refer patient to medical specialist or other practitioners when necessary.

Work activities

• Analyze patient data to determine patient needs or treatment goals.
• Conduct research to increase knowledge about medical issues.
• Confer with other professionals to plan patient care.
• Prescribe treatments or therapies.
• Prescribe medications.
• Supervise patient care personnel.
• Examine patients to assess general physical condition.
• Diagnose medical conditions.
• Sterilize medical equipment or instruments.
• Follow protocols or regulations for healthcare activities.
• Confer with family members to discuss client treatment plans or progress.
• Explain medical procedures or test results to patients or family members.
• Analyze test data or images to inform diagnosis or treatment.
• Schedule patient procedures or appointments.
• Manage healthcare operations.
• Order medical supplies or equipment.
• Monitor patient progress or responses to treatments.
• Operate on patients to treat conditions.
• Record patient medical histories.
• Assist healthcare practitioners during surgery.
• Advise medical personnel regarding healthcare issues.
• Refer patients to other healthcare practitioners or health resources.

Skills in demand

Skills employers ask for in job postings for this occupation (Lightcast), with whether each is a common or specialized skill.

• Microsoft Windows Common Skill
• Medical Software Specialized Skill

Tools & technology

How to get in

Job zone

Zone 5 — Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed

Education

Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Typical entry-level education

Doctoral or professional degree · BLS, the typical path — not a requirement

Related experience

Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

Preparation level

SVP (8.0 and above) — total schooling plus on-the-job experience.

What to study: Health Professions and Related Programs , Medical Residency/Fellowship Programs . Fields of study crosswalked to this occupation (NCES CIP–SOC), not a requirement.

Interests & work styles

The interests and personal qualities O*NET associates with people who do this work.

Work styles

Interest areas

Career interests (Holland / RIASEC)

Wages & employment

U.S. · annual wages (BLS OEWS)

Industries that employ this occupation

Where these workers are employed, by number of jobs (national, BLS OEWS). Pay shown is the occupation's national median, not industry-specific.

Where this work is most concentrated

Industries where this occupation is far more common than in the economy as a whole. The location quotient is how many times more concentrated it is here (a value of 5 means five times its economy-wide share).

Related occupations

Part of the Healthcare & Human Services career cluster.

• Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric · 29-1242.00 Compare →
• Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric · 29-1241.00 Compare →
• Urologists · 29-1229.03 Compare →
• Anesthesiologists · 29-1211.00 Compare →
• Dermatologists · 29-1213.00 Compare →
• Cardiologists · 29-1212.00 Compare →
• Emergency Medicine Physicians · 29-1214.00 Compare →
• General Internal Medicine Physicians · 29-1216.00 Compare →
• Neurologists · 29-1217.00 Compare →
• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons · 29-1022.00 Compare →
• Obstetricians and Gynecologists · 29-1218.00 Compare →
• Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians · 29-1229.04 Compare →

Side-by-side comparisons place two occupations’ pay, preparation, skills, and AI exposure on the same page — same data, same scale, no forecast.

What you can do with this

Options the data surfaces for Pediatric Surgeons — not advice or a forecast. Each is a real cross-link you can follow into the evidence.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
• Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai Microsoft Research
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-role-29-1243-00,
  title  = {Pediatric Surgeons},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/roles/role-29-1243-00}
}