[Chronically ill children become grown-up. What does the internist learn from the pediatrician?]

Transition from the protective, child and family centered pediatric care to the adult health care system with the expectation of patient self care and self management, is challenging the adolescent as well as his adult specialist. The young patients often show a delayed somatic and psychosocial development and oppose not only against their parents but also against their medical team. Adult specialists feel not well trained and experienced in dealing with adolescents. They are worried about the difficulties in the guidance of the patients and the non adherence to therapeutic recommendations. Due to medical progress, many children with severe or/and fatal chronic disorders are now surviving into adulthood. Profound knowledge of diseases that were known until now almost exclusively in the pediatric population as well as an awareness of normal physical, mental and psychosocial development of childhood and adolescence is not training content of German internists. The intention of this article is to discuss some of the experiences of pediatricians that might be helpful to internists to take better care for these special young patients.