Child psychiatry fellowship training: a crisis in recruitment and manpower

Abstract

Eighty-three percent (104 of 126) of the accredited child psychiatry fellowships in the United States responded to a survey of current manpower and training problems facing child psychiatry. Thirty-five percent of the respondents were having trouble filling their classes with highly qualified fellows, and 45% were having difficulty recruiting faculty child psychiatrists. Other significant problems included developing faculty interest in research, providing didactic seminars in new areas such as developmental neurobiology and infant psychiatry, and funding fellow and faculty positions and research. The authors examine this crisis in manpower, recruitment, and training and suggest solutions on local and national levels.