PEDIATRICS Vol. 62 No. 2 August 1978, pp. 254-255
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Report of the Task Force on Scope and Professional Manpower Needs in Pediatric Respiratory Disease

Disorders of the respiratory tract constitute a major national health problem, and a shortage of pediatric chest physicians has been suggested by a survey supported by the National Heart and Lung Institute in 1972.1 However, this survey did not sample the pediatric generalist and did not define the scope of pediatric pulmonary problems. Therefore, the present Task Force addressed itself to an in-depth analysis of the scope and professional manpower needs in pediatric respiratory disease.

In the fall of 1974, a total of 4,400 questionnaires was mailed to a random sample of 20% of the members of the American Academy of Pediatrics who were designated as pediatric generalists and to 632 pediatricians considered to be subspecialists in pediatric pulmonary diseaselatter group consisted of all members of the Section on Diseases of the Chest of the AAP and those who were identified through the Pediatric Assembly of the American Thoracic Society, the American Academy of Allergy, the American College of Allergy, and the Cystic Fibrosis and Pulmonary Center Programs. Forty-four percent of the questionnaires were returned by the pedi- atric generalists and 66% by the pediatric pulmonary subspecialists. Analysis of data from the respondents to those questionnaires constitutes this report. A copy of all data tables and the complete Task Force report is on file with the AAP.

Over one half of the pediatric generalists responding to the questionnaires were in solo (27%) or small group (31%) practices; another 11% were in large group practices and 14% were associated with university-based hospitals.