TORONTO — Pediatrics is facing a “workforce crisis,” an expert told Healio at the Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting.
Last month Sallie Permar, MD, PhD, chair of the department of pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York and pediatrician-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, co-authored an op-ed on the website STAT regarding a lack of medical school graduates choosing to pursue pediatrics.
According to the commentary, nearly 30% of U.S. pediatric residency programs were not filled and the total number of graduates applying for pediatrics declined by 6.1% last year, hitting an all-time low.
It comes down to economics, according to Permar.
“Compensation can be up to 25% less” compared with specialties that focus on adults, Permar said. “So, in order to solve this and to make sure we don’t lose a generation of pediatricians and put our children at further risk of not getting the health care that they need, we need to fix the financial situation and economics facing pediatric care.”
Reference:
Permar S, Vinci RJ. A nation with too few pediatricians could see health care costs soar. https://www.statnews.com/2024/04/02/too-few-pediatricians-health-care-costs. Published April 2, 2024. Accessed May 3, 2024.