Pediatricians are superheroes in scrubs, baby whisperers, teen translators and guardians of growing minds and bodies. But even heroes need reinforcements. The pediatric workforce crisis has made a prominent impact on the healthcare community including staff shortages, jam-packed schedules, long wait times, frustrated patient families and fewer new doctors joining the ranks. In this episode, we examine what's really going on. If we understand what's driving the shortage and discuss what we can do about it, we can begin to create change.

This episode was recorded at the 2025 Pediatric Academic Societies Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii. Joseph St. Geme, MD, is the Chair of the Department of Pediatrics and the Physician in Chief at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Some highlights from this episode include:

• Breaking down the current crisis and why it's different than any other point in pediatrics history
• What doctors, practices and specialties are most impacted
• How this crisis could negatively affect quality, continuity of care and outcomes for kids
• Steps pediatricians can take to help shift this moment

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