How comfortable are emergency physicians with pediatric patients?

We sought to understand how emergency physicians perceive the adequacy of their training in pediatrics. A survey was distributed to emergency physicians regarding residency training, clinical experience, importance of Core Content curricular areas, and the adequacy of their training. The results demonstrated that 84.0% of respondents felt well, completely, or adequately prepared with pediatric cardiopulmonary arrests compared to 96.4% who felt prepared for adult arrests. Trauma resuscitations and care of acutely ill patients revealed differences in preparedness for children versus adults [81.5% vs. 90.1%, respectively (p < 0.001) and 92.2% vs. 97.1%, respectively (p < 0.001)]. Pediatric arrest was the most often cited clinical situation giving trouble to first year attendings (24%) and infants were second (22%). Pediatric disorders were cited as the fourth most important area in training. Certain residency characteristics were associated with an increased sense of preparedness. These results may interest Emergency Medicine educators in planning pediatric curricula and experiences for residents.