Becoming a pediatric psychologist requires a doctoral degree in psychology, several years of supervised clinical training with children, and state licensure. From start to finish, the path takes roughly 10 to 12 years after high school: four years of undergraduate study, five to seven years in a doctoral program (including a one-year internship), and often one to two years of postdoctoral fellowship. It’s a long road, but each stage builds specific skills you’ll use daily when working with children and families facing behavioral, emotional, and developmental challenges.
What Pediatric Psychologists Do
Pediatric psychologists assess and treat mental health, behavioral, and developmental issues in children and adolescents. The work often takes place in children’s hospitals, academic medical centers, outpatient clinics, and private practices. You might evaluate a child struggling with anxiety after a chronic illness diagnosis, help a family manage a behavioral disorder, or conduct neuropsychological testing for learning disabilities.
Unlike general clinical psychologists, pediatric psychologists typically work alongside pediatricians, nurses, and other medical professionals. Much of the role involves helping children cope with the psychological effects of medical conditions, injuries, or treatments. You may also conduct research, train other clinicians, or consult with schools.
Undergraduate Preparation
A bachelor’s degree is the starting point. Most aspiring pediatric psychologists major in psychology, but it’s not strictly required. What matters more is completing foundational psychology coursework. The University of Kansas’s Clinical Child Psychology doctoral program, for example, requires at least 15 credit hours of psychology coursework, including statistics and research methodology. Programs that don’t require a psychology major may accept the psychology subject GRE as an alternative for applicants with fewer psychology credits.
Beyond coursework, use your undergraduate years to gain research experience. Volunteering in a psychology research lab, working with children in clinical or educational settings, and building relationships with faculty who can write strong recommendation letters all strengthen your doctoral applications significantly. A high GPA, especially in psychology and science courses, is essential since doctoral programs in clinical psychology are among the most competitive in higher education.
Earning a Doctoral Degree
A doctoral degree is non-negotiable. You’ll pursue either a PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) or a PsyD (Doctor of Psychology). Both qualify you for licensure and clinical practice, but they differ in emphasis. PhD programs lean heavily toward research training alongside clinical work, while PsyD programs focus more on applied clinical practice. If you’re drawn to academic research or hospital-based work that blends research with patient care, a PhD is the more common route in pediatric psychology.
Doctoral programs in clinical child psychology typically take five to seven years of full-time study. At the University of Kansas, students are expected to complete coursework, practica, and research requirements within four years, followed by a required one-year predoctoral internship. Along the way, you’ll hit several formal milestones: a master’s thesis, a comprehensive examination, and a doctoral dissertation. The dissertation alone requires at least 12 hours of enrollment in dissertation coursework before you defend.
Throughout the program, practicum placements give you hands-on clinical experience with children under supervision. These rotations might place you in pediatric hospitals, community mental health centers, schools, or developmental clinics. Each rotation builds a different skill set, from psychological assessment to therapy to consultation with medical teams.
The Predoctoral Internship
Before you can graduate, you must complete a 12-month clinical internship at a site accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA). This is a full-time, intensive clinical training year that functions as the capstone of your doctoral education.
The application process is centralized and competitive. You apply through the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) and are matched to a site through a national matching service, similar to the match process medical students go through for residencies. The Society of Pediatric Psychology maintains a list of doctoral internship sites that offer training specifically in pediatric psychology, which is helpful for identifying programs aligned with your specialty interests. Your doctoral degree cannot be awarded until you successfully complete this internship year.
Postdoctoral Fellowship
After earning your doctorate, most pediatric psychologists complete a one- to two-year postdoctoral fellowship. While not always legally required for licensure (requirements vary by state), a fellowship in pediatric psychology is practically essential for building the specialized expertise that employers in children’s hospitals and academic medical centers expect.
Postdoctoral fellowships place you in pediatric settings where you refine your clinical skills, often with a subspecialty focus like pediatric oncology, pain management, neuropsychology, or developmental disabilities. The Society of Pediatric Psychology also maintains a directory of postdoctoral programs that offer training in the field. These positions are salaried, though the pay during fellowship years is modest compared to what you’ll earn once fully licensed.
Licensure and Board Certification
Every state requires psychologists to hold a license before practicing independently. Licensure requirements generally include completing a doctoral degree from an accredited program, accumulating a specified number of supervised clinical hours (the predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship typically fulfill this), and passing the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP). Some states also require an additional jurisprudence exam covering state-specific laws and ethics. Fees, supervised-hour thresholds, and renewal timelines vary by state.
Once licensed, you can pursue optional board certification through the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). The relevant specialty board is the American Board of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (ABCCAP). Board certification isn’t required to practice, but it signals advanced competence and can improve your standing when applying for positions at major medical centers or academic institutions. The certification process involves submitting your credentials, providing a practice sample, and completing a peer-reviewed oral examination.
Career Settings and Salary
Pediatric psychologists work in a range of environments. Children’s hospitals and academic medical centers are the most common, where you’d be part of multidisciplinary teams treating young patients with complex medical and psychological needs. Other settings include university-based clinics, community mental health centers, rehabilitation facilities, schools, and private practice. Some pediatric psychologists split their time between clinical work and research or teaching at universities.
Salary varies depending on your setting, geographic location, and years of experience. Glassdoor reports a median total pay of roughly $87,000 per year for child psychologists, with a typical range between $66,000 and $116,000. Top earners at the 90th percentile report making upward of $150,000 annually. Psychologists in hospital systems and academic medical centers often earn toward the higher end of that range, while those in community settings or early in their careers may start closer to the lower end. Additional pay from bonuses, profit sharing, or academic stipends can add $5,000 to $9,000 per year on top of base salary.
Timeline at a Glance
- Undergraduate degree: 4 years, with emphasis on psychology coursework and research experience
- Doctoral program: 4 to 6 years of coursework, practica, and research
- Predoctoral internship: 1 year, completed as part of the doctoral program
- Postdoctoral fellowship: 1 to 2 years of specialized pediatric training
- Licensure: Applied for during or shortly after the postdoctoral period
- Board certification (optional): Pursued after gaining independent practice experience
The full journey from freshman year of college to independent practice typically spans 10 to 12 years. It’s a significant investment of time and effort, but the specialty rewards you with deeply meaningful clinical work helping children and families navigate some of the most challenging moments of their lives.