Without a sufficient number of pediatricians throughout the country, kids may miss out on necessary health care that is key to improving overall health in the country and ultimately lowering the cost of care.
"We need immediate action to address this crisis and find ways to attract more graduates to pediatrics," Aaron Carroll, a pediatrician and president of health services research group AcademyHealth, wrote in aBy the numbers: The number of medical school graduates who applied to pediatric residency programs this year declined by more than 6% compared to 2023, according to an
Although 99% of pediatric residency spots offered this year eventually filled up, 252 positions went unfilled during the initial matching process, according to the National Residency Matching Program.The American Academy of Pediatrics called the number of unmatched positions "concerning" when the data first came out in March.