The Impact of Burnout in Pediatric Medicine and Early Education
Pediatric medicine and early childhood education are two systems that exist to serve families, each in its own way.
The individuals who pursue these career paths are driven by a desire to make a difference and help kids thrive. Yet right now, pediatricians and early childhood educators are experiencing historic levels of burnout due to factors including unrealistic demands, inadequate compensation, and fewer professionals to share the workload.
Ultimately, these systemic challenges can make it challenging for families to navigate the system and find the proper support and resources.
Dr. Carey1 is the Chief of Pediatrics at a local Federally Qualified Health System in New England. Ten years ago she became a pediatrician because when she grew up, she knew her calling was to help children feel their absolute best. Today, instead of getting to know and treat her patients, her mornings consist of phone calls with insurance companies to justify treatment and negotiations to get reimbursement for her clinics’ services. Her afternoons grow increasingly loaded with more and more patients and less time to connect with them in the exam room. In the evening, she struggles to even find a placement for her own young child who is showing early signs of developmental delay because of a lack of available seats. It’s far from the dreams she had coming into the profession- and similar to the experience many clinicians have across pediatric medicine.
Situations like this are disheartening, but raising awareness matters. There are things we can do to help doctors, educators, and families feel better and get what they need. First, let’s take a closer look at the challenges facing pediatricians and early childhood educators.
Burnout in Pediatric Medicine
While critically important, general pediatric medicine is among the lowest-paid medical specialties. In fact, pediatricians make about 25% less than doctors who treat adults despite undergoing the same number of years of training.
One of the most significant factors in this pay disparity between pediatricians and other specialties is that things like well-child visits, vaccines, and ear infections don’t make big bucks for insurance companies. Beyond that, pediatricians aren’t often compensated for the time they spend counseling families about everything from seat belt use to behavior management and more.
In addition to the challenges of private insurance and Medicaid reimbursements (over half of American children rely on this health care plan), private equity has further complicated the system, putting additional pressure on doctors to work fast and increase profits. In Massachusetts, the recent collapse of the Steward Healthcare System took down a number of small pediatric practices. This situation is just one example of how the privatization of healthcare can have catastrophic outcomes.
With heightened demands and low pay, it's no surprise that we're headed toward a pediatrician shortage, with nearly 30% of pediatric residency programs failing to fill in 2024. Meanwhile, the remaining pediatricians are often overloaded with tasks that take them away from the care they want to provide for their patients.
According to McKinsey, over 60% of pediatricians are experiencing at least one dimension of burnout. In addition to the toll this takes on the practitioner's mental and physical well-being, physician burnout can negatively impact patient care. In one study of pediatric residents, doctors suffering from burnout were seven times more likely to make treatment errors and ten times more likely to ignore the social or personal impact of a child's illness.
Now that we’ve explored the challenging landscape that pediatricians are operating within, it’s time to turn our attention to early childhood educators.
Challenges in Early Childhood Education
You've likely heard a lot about the struggles of K–12 teachers in a country that demands more and more for less and less. However, the difficulties faced by early childhood educators are often overlooked.
Early childhood educators support the positive growth and development of the youngest among us during the years when learning challenges or other mental and physical health issues are often first diagnosed.
In the United States, early education is administrated at the state level and is less supported and coordinated. That means these teachers can have vastly different experiences depending on their employers. The work is often emotionally and physically demanding. Yet professionals in the field, many of whom are women and frequently women of color, are usually under-compensated and undervalued despite the importance of their work.
High turnover rates and staffing shortages, particularly since the pandemic, have exacerbated already challenging working conditions for early childhood educators. 45% of early childhood educators reported burnout and mental health challenges in a nationwide survey conducted in 2022. It’s worth noting that many of the surveyed teachers noted that access to more professional development would increase their job satisfaction and their likelihood to remain in the field.
Where to Go From Here
At Reach Out and Read Northeast, we have the privilege of working at the intersection of pediatric medicine and early childhood education. We see the hard work being done daily by dedicated professionals in both arenas to support kids and families. We also see where systemic challenges cause a disconnect, resulting in frustration on both sides and challenges for families.
While long-term systemic fixes include advocating for more appropriate insurance reimbursement rates, working toward better early childhood educator pay, and finding ways to fill both professional pipelines, families can't wait. They depend on our collaboration now.
Here are three places to put our energy now as we look ahead to another year of supporting the families in our communities:
A Recommitment to Cross-Sector Partnership
Recognizing all that professionals in both sectors are grappling with, deepening partnership and patience is key. Following up, perspective-taking, and working together within systemic constraints are all crucial to getting families the support they need.
A Focus on Crucial Self-Care
Promoting wellness and self-care can make a big difference on an individual level and throughout a pediatric practice or childcare center. A good place to start when relieving the pressure on doctors and teachers is creating a better separation between work and life outside of work. Consider reexamining processes and practices to reduce off-hours lesson planning and patient communication so professionals can truly rest and reset.
An Infusion of Joy and Meaning
Helping families find the right referral, make a connection, or get the support they need can remind doctors and educators why they got into this work in the first place. For instance, programs like Reach Out and Read can improve practice culture and make patient interactions feel more positive and satisfying. In early childhood education settings, additional resources and training, positive relationships with co-workers, supportive administration, and more recognition of these teachers' role in childhood development can all help minimize burnout and boost morale.
Families are counting on us to push for big change tomorrow while we collaborate to offer a smoother journey to what they need today.
For more about how cross-sector collaboration benefits kids and families, check out this past episode of the Reach Out & Read podcast on building early relational health ecosystems.
Name changed to protect privacy