SUMMARY REPORT REGIONAL PEDIATRIC CONFERENCES 1950-51

During 1950-51 10 regional pediatric conferences were held under the sponsorship of the American Academy of Pediatrics. There were from 6 to 10 medical schools in each region, with the exception of Region X which included all of the Canadian medical schools. A member of the Committee on Medical Education served as the "Captain" for his region. Participants were the heads of the pediatrics departments or their representatives from the medical schools in the region, state chairman in the region, district chairmen, and other guests invited at the discretion of the "Captain." A summary report of each regional conference has been prepared and a copy together with a "Summary" of the "summaries" will be sent to all who were invited to attend the conferences, but will not be published elsewhere. A limited number of extra copies will be available. Anyone wishing a copy of the complete report may obtain it by writing the Executive Secretary, Dr. E. H. Christopherson. Purposely, no common agenda was supplied in the belief that the problems in the regions would differ widely and that there would be value in a later comparison of the approach made to those problems in the different conferences. While main emphasis naturally centered about teaching of pediatrics at the undergraduate, intern and resident level, most conferences extended the scope of their discussions to include state-wide problems of pediatric education of more specific interest to state chairmen. In general the attendance of state chairmen was disappointing. It is the Committee's hope that improvement in this respect will occur in subsequent years, for it is felt that greatest progress can be made when teachers and practitioners "pool" their interests around the conference table.