Pediatric training in family medicine residency programs

A survey was performed to obtain information regarding various aspects of pediatric training in family medicine residency programs. A questionnaire was sent to the program directors of all 236 family medicine residency programs which had graduated residents by July 1978. Eighty-two percent returned the questionnaire. The mean duration of child health care training in the three-year residency was 9.0 months. This included 3.4 pediatric equivalent months in the ambulatory family practice center and 5.6 months on pediatric rotations in several other areas. Forty-six percent of programs have one or more full-time, board certified pediatricians on the family medicine staff. Respondents believed that family physicians should be competent to provide total care for normal newborns (93 percent), general inpatient care (79 percent), and general ambulatory care (99 percent). Pediatric training in family medicine residency programs, which constitutes 25 percent of curriculum time, is accomplished by utilizing the family practice center as well as pediatric rotations. Significant variations exist among programs, however, and the quality of training needs to be evaluated.