Am J Psychiatry 1982; 139:1158-1161
Copyright © 1982 by American Psychiatric Association
The future of child psychiatry as a medical discipline
F Earls
There is a shortage of child psychiatrists; at the same time, efforts to
establish comprehensive care health resources for families and children are
increasing. To ensure that child psychiatry keeps pace with broader changes
in medical care, the author recommends that the distribution and practices
of child psychiatrists be examined and that the therapies used be
evaluated. The structural relationships of child psychiatry remaining
programs to medical school departments of psychiatry and pediatrics and to
the specialty examining boards also need reappraisal. Discussion of these
issues within and outside child psychiatry should be stimulating and useful
to the field's future.
