Theriault Christopher B, Burns Tracy, Goldschneider Kenneth, Koka Anjali, Logan Deirdre, Weisman Steven J, Wilder Robert T, Windsor R Blake, Zempsky William T
Division of Pain and Palliative Medicine, Connecticut Children's, Hartford, CT, United States.
Anesthesiology, Pain and Perioperative Medicine, Children's National Hospital, Washington, DC, United States.
Front Pain Res (Lausanne). 2024 Oct 15;5:1390736. doi: 10.3389/fpain.2024.1390736. eCollection 2024.
Many youth with pain lack access to pediatric pain expertise. There is a critical shortage of pediatric pain physicians, due partly to a paucity of training programs in Pediatric Pain Medicine. Pain fellowships are Anesthesiology-based and there is no pathway to fellowship training or Pain Medicine board certification for pediatricians. This workforce assessment sought to examine the current state of Pediatric Pain Medicine in the United States and future interest in pursuing Pain Medicine among pediatricians.
A multidisciplinary working group of Pain Medicine clinicians designed three surveys to examine pediatric comprehensive pain programs in the US, practice patterns of pediatricians and their motivations and opinions regarding Pain Medicine board certification, and current residents' exposure to and interest in Pediatric Pain Medicine.
Wait times for initial evaluations are two months or longer for two-thirds of responding centers, and barriers to increase staff size and resources were reported, including an inadequate number of trained or available physicians. Pediatricians expressed interest in earning board certification in Pain Medicine, given the opportunity. Additionally, there is interest among pediatric residents in pursuing Pediatric Pain Medicine, and qualitative data highlight information residents perceived needing in order to pursue a career in the field.
Results demonstrate the need for increased training opportunities in pediatric pain medicine. A formal pathway to Pain Medicine for Pediatricians should be developed to increase the potential workforce and to address the lack of trained pediatric pain specialists, thereby improving access to care for youth with pain.
许多患有疼痛的青少年无法获得儿科疼痛方面的专业知识。儿科疼痛医生严重短缺，部分原因是儿科疼痛医学的培训项目匮乏。疼痛专科培训是以麻醉学为基础的，儿科医生没有获得专科培训或疼痛医学委员会认证的途径。这项劳动力评估旨在研究美国儿科疼痛医学的现状以及儿科医生未来对从事疼痛医学的兴趣。
一个由疼痛医学临床医生组成的多学科工作组设计了三项调查，以研究美国的儿科综合疼痛项目、儿科医生的执业模式以及他们对疼痛医学委员会认证的动机和看法，以及当前住院医师对儿科疼痛医学的接触情况和兴趣。
三分之二的回复中心初始评估的等待时间为两个月或更长，并且报告了增加工作人员规模和资源的障碍，包括训练有素或可聘用的医生数量不足。如果有机会，儿科医生表示有兴趣获得疼痛医学委员会认证。此外，儿科住院医师对从事儿科疼痛医学有兴趣，定性数据突出了住院医师认为从事该领域职业所需的信息。
结果表明需要增加儿科疼痛医学的培训机会。应为儿科医生建立一条通往疼痛医学的正规途径，以增加潜在的劳动力，并解决训练有素的儿科疼痛专家短缺的问题，从而改善患有疼痛的青少年获得治疗的机会。
