School health training during pediatric residency

Pediatricians are becoming increasingly concerned about reaching beyond the office or clinic to help solve problems of child and family health. The physician's ability to interact with school personnel and communities is one important approach to this outreach effort. School health training has been a required 6-month component of the pediatric residency curriculum at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, since 1979, with second-year residents providing weekly on-site consultations to public school districts and participating in a weekly school health seminar series. In this study, graduates from this program were surveyed to determine their evaluations of the training and extent of current school involvement and to use their evaluations for curriculum evaluation. Residents who participated in the school consultation from 1979 through 1988 were surveyed. Seventy-eight pediatricians responded, a 79% return rate. Ratings by the graduates reveal that both pediatric generalists and subspecialists highly value their training experiences. Ratings were not related to the specific site to which the resident consultant had been assigned. Of these pediatricians, 41% are currently consulting with school personnel. These findings are discussed as they relate to other reports of physician involvement in schools and provide clues to curriculum design for school health training in pediatric residency.