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Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists are physicians who specialize in evaluating, diagnosing, and treating children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders, which cause problems with feeling, thinking, and behavior. The patient population they serve ranges from birth to eighteen years of age. They treat a variety of disorders such as depression, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), conduct disorder, anxiety disorder to name a few. Child psychiatry is a relatively small and young branch of medicine. There has been a shortage of child psychiatrists, which has not improved much despite the opening of new training programs in the 1960's and 70's and by the triple boards programs in the 80's and 90's. It has been estimated that 15 million children and adolescents in the U.S. suffer from diagnosable psychiatric conditions, and about seven million of them exhibit severe to extreme functional impairments due to their psychiatric conditions (Dulcan, et al, 1996). The epidemic of child psychiatric conditions and the inadequate mental health care system has drawn significant attention from the public in general and governmental agencies as evidenced by recent and frequent coverage of child psychiatric issues by the media and several governmental commissions over the years. Several commissions by government agencies and professional organizations have reviewed the status of supply and demand related to child psychiatrists. All of these commissions have recognized a marked shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists. In the last four decades, various recruitment ideas have been proposed to expand the field to meet the needs of the nation's children and adolescents. However, the number of training programs and the number of trainees, in fact, have decreased in the past decade, from 120 to 113 and 712 to 680 respectively from 1990 to 2003 (Psychiatric News April 20, 2001). This decrease occurred in spite of the major advances in the understanding and treatment of childhood mental disorders. This paper looks at the magnitude of this problem, the reasons causing it, its impact on public health, current efforts by professional bodies and makes some recommendations for change. |
