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Medical schools across Canada are training far too many doctors for some pediatric specialities — but failing to produce enough in other key areas of child health care, concludes a new study that starkly illustrates the surprising disconnect between physician education and real-world demands.

The findings are symptomatic of an “astonishing” problem that has left many freshly minted doctors unemployed, even as patients continue to face long wait lists in some areas, says an official with the national body that oversees specialty accreditation.

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The authors of the new study, including heads of university pediatric departments, compared the number of medical graduates training in various pediatric sub-specialties with the projected demand in those areas. There was a close match in just one of 16 sub-specialites.

Twice the number of pediatric neurologists were being taught as needed, for instance, yet half as many neonatologists — the doctors who treat premature and sick newborns — are being trained as hospitals are expected to require.