Send us a text

Dr. Clara Song, Chair of the AAP Section on Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, discusses urgent workforce challenges facing neonatology. With average neonatologist age around 50-55 and stable fellowship applications despite growing positions, the field faces potential shortages. The section launched initiatives addressing fair compensation, including a new website comparing negotiated commercial payer rates across states and engaging state chapters for payer advocacy. Song highlights concerning trends where neonatologist productivity increased while compensation decreased as the field became female-dominated. She discusses the section's comprehensive staffing toolkit and proposes restructured training pathways—potentially shortened residency with targeted 2-5 year fellowships—to attract trainees while ensuring adequate clinical preparation for increasingly complex neonatal care.

Support the show

As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.

Enjoy!