Support for a Thriving and Growing Pediatric Workforce
CHOP is committed to training the future pediatric workforce and meeting the needs of children and families in our region. We will continue to advocate for resources and programs that bolster the pediatric workforce and allow us to provide transformational care to our patients.
This is needed for pediatrics, in particular, because hospitals across the country increasingly cannot fill pediatric subspecialty positions. Those most impacted included developmental pediatrics, psychiatry, neurology and genetics. Further, the number of pediatric inpatient beds declined by almost 20% in the past decade as general hospitals shifted to the focus on care of adults.
Children’s Hospitals Graduate Medical Education
Children’s Hospitals Graduate Medical Education (CHGME) protects children’s access to high-quality medical care by providing freestanding children’s hospitals, including CHOP, with funding to support the training of pediatric providers.
This funding is important to recipient hospitals because just 1% of the nation’s hospitals train nearly half of all pediatricians. The federal program was created through the enactment of the bipartisan Healthcare Research and Quality Act in 1999, after the number of pediatric subspecialty residents in children’s hospital residency programs began to decline.
CHOP has one of the largest pediatric training programs in the nation, with over 400 residents and fellows participating in over 70 training programs. The funding CHOP receives through CHGME is a crucial portion of the hospital’s annual investment in pediatric training and is essential to ensuring there are enough pediatric providers in the future. Find more information from the Children’s Hospital Association.