PEDIATRICS Vol. 3 No. 5 May 1949, pp. 675-679
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FINANCIAL ASPECTS OF PEDIATRIC EDUCATION

JOHN P. HUBBARD M.D. and JOHN MCK. MITCHELL M.D.

A year ago we presented at the Annual Meeting of the Academy some of the findings that were beginning to emerge from the Study of Child Health Services. This comprehensive nation-wide survey is now complete and in publication. One of the most important aspects of this study is the fact that it has coupled with a study of services an evaluation of the training of those who are rendering the services.

Many members of the Academy participated in the collection of information from practicing physicians, hospitals and community health agencies. The results of these inquiries are now in the hands of state chairmen who are reporting the findings for their own areas. These state reports which are appearing in increasing number contain not only a summary of the data but also include recommendations as to what ought to be done within the state to fill existing gaps and to improve the health of children.

But the information on pediatric education is less familiar to the many who participated in state programs. This part of the study was necessarily conducted from a central office with one of us, Dr. Mitchell, making a personal visit to each of the 70 approved medical schools and nearly all of the hospitals approved for pediatric residency.

Now that we have reached a point where we can see the whole picture, the Study of Pediatric Education appears in a place of prominent, if not dominant, importance. Service is, after all, a dynamic function, and can be only so good as the training, skills and abilities of the individuals who give it. In the last analysis, good medical care for children depends not so much on the physical facilities of the hospitals or the expansion of health services as upon the judgment and skill of physicians. This skill is the result of training and experience. It was this very fact which at the outset led to the inclusion of an evaluation of pediatric education and which now appears as the logical starting point for a program for the improvement of child health.