Back to school: training opportunities in school-based health centers

School-based health centers are a rapidly growing model for provision of comprehensive, primary health care to elementary, middle, and senior high school students. They offer an exciting new training opportunity that is nontraditional, multidisciplinary, and relevant to future practice. The programs funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that trainees made a significant contribution to their projects. The value of school-based health centers as training sites extends to trainees, schools, and the future growth of school-based health centers. Integration of medical and mental health services and delivery of services by a multidisciplinary team are essential components of school-based health centers. These characteristics make school sites well suited to the training needs and practice opportunities sought by a number of disciplines, including developmental and behavioral pediatrics. A school-based health center rotation may be particularly important in developmental and behavioral pediatrics because many trainees may be called on to consult with schools in their future careers, and this rotation may provide their only school-related experience.