Career in Pediatrics

A survey of 1000 US pediatricians between the ages of 40 and 75 years revealed that approximately one third of the 800 respondents have already changed the direction of their work at least once (Table 16). Only 61% of these are well satisfied with the modification. Of the 800 respondents 30% would now seriously consider an alteration on their career. Only one third have plans for retirement (Table 18) and one sixth do not expect to retire. This report of the Committee on Expanding Pediatric Careers of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) examines the background for these unexpected statistics, the survey which yielded them, their significance, and what has been or may be done by the AAP to meet the challenge which they present. BACKGROUND Over the last quarter century, the demand for pediatric services and the total number of pediatricians in the United States have increased markedly. At the same time, many pediatricians have felt dissatisfaction and changed their career directions. Because of this, in 1975 a new AAP Committee on Expanding Pediatric Careers (CEPC) was appointed and directed to study (1) the desires of pediatricians in mid-career for expansion or modification of their professional functions, (2) options for senior pediatricians who wish to continue to contribute to child care after formal retirement, and (3) ways to assist impaired pediatricians. (This third goal has since been considered more properly a function of organized medicine as a whole.) This report describes the study and the resultant survey. Any study of professional careers must consider the various forces that impinge on the lives of these professionals. For pediatricians these include four major ones.