It is a commonly accepted truth that there is an unhealthy imbalance between the small number of primary care providers and the large number of specialists in the American health care system.  This imbalance is blamed, among other things, for the rise in healthcare costs, and some of the discussion on how to reduce costs is now focused on ways to incentivize physicians to pursue careers in primary care.

While this imbalance certainly exists in adult medicine, in pediatrics, the exact opposite is true.

A growing shortage of pediatric subspecialists in most fields and diminishing willingness of graduating pediatric residents to take on additional years of training means that many children suffering from a variety of conditions such as asthma, diabetes, and psychiatric disorders now have to wait months to be seen by someone who is able to appropriately assess, diagnose and treat them. 

I specialize in disorders of the lungs in children (and in pediatric sleep disorders) and regularly meet families who have waited months for an appointment.  Try and imagine what it must be like to watch your child struggle for air on a daily basis because of asthma, or obstructive sleep apnea, and to have to wait that long for a solution!