Teaching About Schools During Pediatric Residency

Objective.—Several published guidelines have suggested that primary care pediatricians include school issues as part of regular health supervision visits. Few residency training programs include systematic education about educational issues that affect children's lives and success in school. The goal of this study was to evaluate a short curriculum on Children In School that was included as part of the 2-month required rotation in developmental-behavioral pediatrics.

Methods.—A questionnaire was designed to assess 1) pediatric residents' attitudes about the importance of making school issues part of their practice, 2) pediatric residents' self-perceived knowledge about central concepts, and 3) pediatric residents' self-perceived skills.

Participants.—Twenty-one of the 22 pediatric residents in 1 training program completed the questionnaire at the beginning of their first residency year and again during the final 3 months of their third (last) year.

Results.—Residents assessed that their knowledge and skills relating to children in school were increased consistently (P < .001). Because they considered pediatricians' responsibilities to help improve children's school success to be important even before the program, there was little opportunity for improvement in ratings of “importance” over time.

Conclusions.—A relatively short teaching module introduced in the context of the developmental-behavioral pediatrics rotation can improve residents' self-assessed skills and knowledge about children in school.

KEY WORDS:  developmental and behavioral pediatrics , resident education , school health