In both the United States and Canada and in fact worldwide, there is a shortage of pediatricians serving rural and less populated areas. Also in the U.S., while the total number of primary care doctors for children across urban areas is appropriate, there is an uneven distribution of these doctors throughout the fifty states.
As for the kinds of specialists in demand, the lists are varied. A recent study revealed that in Canada medical schools are training too many doctors in some pediatric specialties, and insufficient numbers in other areas of child health care. For example, the study showed that twice as many neurologists as needed and only half the number of required neonatologists – doctors who treat premature or ill newborns – are being trained. The Canadian Pediatric (‘Paediatric’) Society http://www.cps.ca/ and the American Academy of Pediatrics https://www.aap.org are the most reliable sources from which to obtain updated statistics regarding job opportunities in the field.
