Fall 2000

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From the Editor
ADHD Guidelines
Life Expectancy
Boards Update
Strategic Plan
Book Review
SDBP

Awards

C. Anderson Aldrich
Dale Richmond

From the Editor

by Henry L. Shapiro, M.D. FAAP, St. Petersburg, FL

It’s the 40^th Anniversary of the Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, and 50 years if you count the two groups that formed in the 1950s to focus on behavior and mental health. You can be proud to be a member of a distinguished group with a great track record of service and discovery. We have always focused on educational programs for the generalist and subspecialist. See the brief article about the Section’s History in the October 2000 AAP News.

Newsletter

In this edition, we feature an original commentary on the AAP guidelines for the evaluation of ADHD by Dr. Daniel Kessler. Dr. Edward Hoffman contributed an original article about life expectancy in children with severe disabilities in response to a discussion on the DBP Discussion List. Dr. Annette Lansford has contributed a thoughtful book review, and we feature an article on DBP Board Certification and a message from SDBP President Dr. Martin Stein.

Education

There are DBP programs on every day of the Annual Meeting (see Highlights, page 13). The Section works closely with the AAP in developing CME programs throughout the year. This year’s Section program, planned under the leadership of Dr. Jean Smith, will feature talks on ADHD, Oppositional Behavior, and Reading Disorders. Through this Newsletter, the dbpeds.org web site, and the DBP discussion list (page 5), we offer a wide range of learning experiences for our membership. Dr. Karen Miller has taken over as the new Program Chair. She will report to the Executive Committee and will take primary responsibility for planning the annual section meeting and proposing additional DBP offerings at Academy CME courses.

Boards

The upcoming board exam in November 2002 is an opportunity and a challenge. (See article page 15). We are committed to developing educational programs to meet the needs of both generalists and subspecialists, probably in the form of a 3-day intensive update course given in Spring 2002, and a Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics track at the 2002 Super CME course. Executive Committee member Dr. Desmond Kelly will be chairing the education subcommittee that will be responsible for planning the intensive update course. The Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics is interested in collaborating with us.

Strategic Planning

The Section sponsored a 2-day Strategic Planning meeting in February 2000, and developed a Mission Statement and Goals for the Section (page 18). The Strategic Planning committee included several outside consultants and several members of the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee reviewed objectives generated by this group, and decided that the Section should focus on education, and develop a long-range education plan to make sure that we meet the needs of our constituency (you).

We have a series of needs assessment surveys , and now we have a Residency Curriculum and DBP Board Content Outline to guide our educational planning. We want to be responsive to the needs of Section members and look forward to hearing your ideas for programs and materials to support your learning and practice.

Coding and reimbursement

We are interested in your input regarding the work involved in providing developmental and behavioral services, particularly screening services. There are few data to document the range of activities that go into screening – including back office procedures, cost of screening tools, professional time, and interpretation and referral skills. I would welcome input from any pediatrician about how we can measure your efforts in this area.

On the Web

The Development and Behavior Pediatric Discussion list (dbp‑d@dbpeds.org) is a very active forum for case discussion and exchange of ideas. It has over 400 members, and we have been able to offer CME credit for participants. It’s sister list, dbp‑x@dbpeds.org, is a forum for requesting referral help for patients. We also publish a periodic News list. To join, fill out the form at http://www.dbpeds.org/feedback.cfm. The Pediatric Development and Behavior Homepage, http://www.dbpeds.org, is partly sponsored by the Section.

Bylaws Change

By a 10 to 1 vote, the Section membership approved a bylaws change to allow affiliate members to the Section. This will require final approval through the AAP, and we will need to develop a specific application procedure. I will let you know when this option becomes available. We expect that nurses, nurse practitioners, psychologists, and social workers will be particularly interested in becoming Section affiliate members. The main criteria for membership will be having a professional certification and a strong interest in child development and behavior. We hope that by reaching out to affiliates, we will improve our effectiveness and be able to produce a greater variety of educational programs.

If you know someone who wants to become a Section affiliate, have them contact Eileen Casey at the AAP (ecasey@aap.org) or encourage them to sign up to the DBP News email list.

Thanks and Welcome

Finally, a special thank you to our outgoing Executive Committee members, Dr. Peter Gorski, Dr. Gregory Prazar, and Dr. Daniel Kessler, for their many years of service and support for the Section and AAP. Thanks to Jim Blackman who had advised the Committee as Past Chair. We all work as volunteers for the Academy and spend many hours meeting, reviewing documents, and preparing educational sessions. I am pleased to announce the Dr. Annette Lansford has been re-elected for another 3 years on the Executive Committee. Bill Coleman will continue to advise the Committee as Past Chair. Heidi Feldman, David Schonfeld, and Pam High serve in liaison roles with Academy Committees.

New committee members will start their terms on November 1, 2000. They are: Dr. Lynn Wegner from North Carolina, Dr. Michelle Macias from South Carolina, and Dr. William Cohen from Pennsylvania. Special thanks to the candidates for the Executive Committee position for their willingness to volunteer to serve.

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