PEDIATRIC RESIDENCY PROGRAM

Abstract

DURING the past 10 to 15 years, the type of practice carried on by pediatricians has been undergoing a change. There are fewer seriously ill children requiring long-term treatment and follow-up since many of the common infectious diseases of childhood are detected early and, because of modern methods of treatment, prevented from becoming serious. Although pediatricians have fewer patients who require hospital care, this is balanced by the fact that there is an increasing use of the pediatrician for health supervision or "well child care." Parents are becoming more aware of the need for supervision of the child's physical and emotional growth and development through the extensive attention given this in popular everyday literature and by the fact the pediatrician himself is now encouraging this more than formerly. This change in pediatric practice is being reflected gradually in the type of preparation given the pediatrician in his residency training. When one thinks of the tremendous amount of knowledge available regarding normal growth and development and of the growing importance of the field it is evident that real knowledge in this area cannot be obtained quickly and without effort. Therefore it is of sufficient importance to be included in routine residency training. There is no question that the resident needs much more of his time spent in the hospital caring for seriously ill children than in the well-child area of pediatrics.