[Liberal pediatrics: the infancy of an occupation]

A survey by questionnaire was conducted among liberal pediatricians of Northern France in order to determine their feelings on their practice. Three major themes appear from this survey: 1) modern liberal pediatrics in France has a poor profit earning capacity; 2) the University formation is mostly directed toward the formation of hospital pediatricians rather than practitioners; 3) there is a need for a different formation with a greater emphasize on child psychology.