THE ACADEMY 1960-61

Abstract

This will be a brief report about some important national programs and actions since our annual business meeting a year ago. While they help demonstrate the Academy's influence and breadth of interest in child health affairs, these developments also are a challenge to our leadership. How to keep pace with this broadening public interest and also maintain a private practice is the dilemma of most pediatricians. It can be done, it must be done, and it will be done, if each of our members takes seriously the obligation of Fellowship. As an organization we continue to grow at an impressive rate. In the past 10 years our membership in the United States has more than doubled. Altogether there are slightly more than 7,000 members in the Academy. Of these, more than 5,700 are in the United States, 231 in Canada and 940 in Latin America. With greater size comes a greater problem in communication. The annual business meeting—though it serves an important purpose in this respect—is not enough. Our News Letter is becoming increasingly useful as a means of reaching all our members. The brochure "An Introduction to the American Academy of Pediatrics," published this year, fills the need for a brief description of the purpose, organization and program of the Academy. A new publication, Careers in Pediatrics, soon to be issued will give young people some better understanding of pediatrics and show them that as a specialty it has many inviting possibilities. This all helps. But for the Academy of fulfill its purpose to improve the health of all children, it must mobilize the ideas and efforts of all its members.