A Prognosis for Pediatrics

Abstract

In a recent issue of theAmerican Journal of Diseases of Children(127:537-558, 1974) a symposium concerning the changing roles and relationships in the provision of child health care appeared, featuring papers by five national leaders in health care planning, education, provision, and evaluation. Their presentations have significant implications for all physicians who provide health care for children, but more for the currently practicing pediatrician than others, since his options to change the direction of his practice are limited. Traditionally, the primary care pediatrician has conducted a high-volume practice in a solo or small partnership arrangement. He has provided preventive services and health maintenance supervision, and has managed acute minor illnesses on an ambulatory basis. Only a small part of his efforts, however, have been spent in the diagnosis and treatment of serious illnesses in the hospital for which most of his postgraduate training prepared him. These problems have increasingly