PEDIATRICS Vol. 8 No. 5 November 1951, pp. 734-737
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THE PEDIATRICIAN AND THE PUBLIC

Editors: PAUL A. HARPER, M.D..

The excellent statement of the American Board of Pediatrics in the March issue of Pediatrics has stirred me to communicate with your editorial department.

In 1935 the American Board of Pediatrics set up the field of Growth and Development as a basic requirement for specialty certification. That this was a far-seeing action is testified by the challenging official statement of the Board which was printed in the March 1951 issue of Pediatrics (The Pediatrician and the Public, pp. 430-432).

This statement is so constructive in essence and so liberal in tone that it is sure to attract wide acceptance. The statement, however, deserves more than acquiescence and should initiate new undertakings to meet the training requirements so clearly indicated. The Board does not assume the task of outlining specific training programs. The possibilities are so diversified that it would be desirable to have various training centers, devoted to special aspects of infant and child development. If the approach is soundly developmental, the danger of overspecialization is small; because development is an inclusive, integrative concept which embraces the "total health." The concept applies with equal force to the well child and to the handicapped. It applies equally and conjointly to physical and to mental health. In fact, health can now be defined as that condition which permits and promotes optimal development.