2014

HomeWashington Letter2014 ▶ ATS Urges Congress to Support Pediatric Education Incentives
ATS Urges Congress to Support Pediatric Education Incentives

April 2014

This week, the ATS joined a letter to Congress with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and other pediatric specialties in support of funding for the Pediatric Subspecialty Loan Repayment Program.

The letter points out that there are not only pediatric specialty shortages but a significant disparity in the geographic distribution of specialists trained to treat children with special health care needs, resulting in many children in underserved areas not receiving timely or appropriate health care. Currently, there are less than 900 board-certified pediatric pulmonologists practicing in the U.S., a ratio of one for every 83,000 children.

The Pediatric Subspecialty Loan Repayment program will help alleviate shortages by providing an incentive for careers in pediatric mental health and pediatric subspecialties. Participants must work full-time for at least two years in a pediatric medical subspecialty, a pediatric surgical specialty, or in child and adolescent mental health in a health professional shortage area or a medically underserved area. In return, the program will pay up to $35,000 in loan repayment for each year of service, for up to three years. The letter, sent to members of the House and Senate Labor-Health and Human Services Appropriations subcommittees, requests $5 million in funding for the program in FY2015.

Last Reviewed: October 2017