Media education in pediatric residencies: a national survey

Little is known about the current state of residency education with respect to counseling parents about media usage and whether trainees consider it to be adequate.

A national survey of graduating pediatric residents was conducted in the United States to determine the amount of training they receive on traditional and new media, their perceptions of its quality, and their self-reported practices regarding talking to families about media usage.

A 58% response rate was achieved with no evidence of response bias based on age or gender. Only 38% rated their residency program as "very good" or "excellent" in preparing them to provide anticipatory guidance on the effects of media on children and adolescents. In logistic regression analyses, controlling for demographic characteristics, more training on media issues was a significant predictor for usually/always advising families on traditional, passive media (adjusted odds ratio = 3.29; 95% confidence interval 2.26-4.81) and usually/always advising families on new, interactive media use (adjusted odds ratio = 3.96; 95% confidence interval 2.61-6.00) during well-child visits.

The majority of residents believe their training on children in media is inadequate. Enhanced training on media is needed in US pediatric residencies.