[School medicine: dynamic aspects of a discipline]

School health is evolving according to new knowledge, variations of pathology and epidemiology, scattering of responsabilities as to diagnosis and treatment, progressive coverage of school career, and diverse professional training of the physicians involved. As part of social and preventive medicine does it still correspond to a common denominator? If we pretend so we give the school physician "sensu stricto" a primordial position. But then we ought to formulate new directions inspired by the light of permanent reflexion what youth are expecting from the physician in their situation of students. Today pupil adaptation to school and adaptation of the latter to our young pupils ranks first, with a specific medico-social and pedagogical assistance focused on primary prevention. Therefore collective awareness of school physicians under the auspices of the Swiss Society of Social and Preventive Medicine is welcome.