1 Chairman, Council on Pediatric Practice, American Academy of Pediatrics
The Council on Pediatric Practice has, as Dr. Wineberg states, gone on record as recognizing the increasingly important role of ambulatory care programs in the pediatrics of the future.
We do not, however, share his pessimism for steps in this direction are not only rapidly coming but also, in many of our teaching institutions, are already here.
Dr. Wineberg seems to imply that the department chairmen are the major influence in delaying the evolutionary process. Rather, it seems to me practitioners and teachers alike must work together to show the pediatricians of the future the importance of this major portion of pediatric practice not only through improving the quality of both the staff and the faculties of these services but through curricular changes designed to demonstrate both the need for and the benefits of experience in this area.