Children await treatment at Beijing Children's Hospital in December. ZOU HONG/CHINA DAILY

To accomplish that, authorities will need to reverse a trend that has seen 14,310, or more than 10 percent of pediatricians in China, leave for other professions between 2011 and 2014, according to research by the association.

Yang Qiuli, a doctor at a children's hospital in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, said the chief complaints are the low salaries on offer, the heavy workload and the growing risk of conflicts with patients.

Severe pollution, which has affected regions across the north in recent months, has also further compounded the problem, according to health professionals.

Chen's nephew was among many children taken to Beijing Children's Hospital on Dec 18 for treatment after developing coughs during the capital's smog "red alert".

A woman in the emergency department, with her 3-month-old son who was experiencing respiratory difficulties, said she had been waiting for five hours, and had been told there was a shortage of available beds and only two doctors.

"Pediatrics wards are like a barometer of the weather," said Zhang Jiao, a pediatrician at Beijing United Family Hospital, who confirmed that the heavy smog had resulted in an increase of infant patients.

"Children are most sensitive to the weather, and conditions such as fevers and coughs are common on days with poor air quality."

Zhang worked from 7 pm until 7 am on Dec 18 and 19, and within the first three hours, she had received more than 10 patients, she said, adding that the hospital had placed an extra doctor on duty, bringing the total number up to three.

"Pediatricians are in great shortage," Zhang said. "In many big hospitals, pediatricians have to struggle to keep up with the excessive number of patients."