National survey of chief pediatric residents' attitudes, practices, and training in collaborating with schools

• Published in: Journal of interprofessional education & practice Vol. 15; pp. 82 - 87
• Main Authors: Shahidullah, Jeffrey D, Forman, Susan G, Palejwala, Mohammed H, Chaudhuri, Anindita, Pincus, Liza E, Lee, Erica, Shafrir, Rachel, Barone, Christina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01.06.2019
• Subjects: Collaboration; Internal Medicine; Medical education; Pediatrics; Schools; Training; Training; Medical education; Pediatrics; Schools; Collaboration
• ISSN: 2405-4526; 2405-4526
• DOI: 10.1016/j.xjep.2019.02.008

Abstract The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that pediatricians be trained to collaborate with school personnel and has stated that inadequate collaboration across systems is a contributor to suboptimal health care. Mail-based surveys were used to target chief residents of all pediatric residency programs in the United States ( N  = 214). Participants completed a 25-item survey inquiring about training, attitudes, and practices in collaborating with schools. A 68.6% response rate was obtained. The majority of respondents (73.5%) view collaboration with school personnel as important or very important and believe it improves overall patient care. However, 30.7% of respondents reported to never have collaborated with school personnel, and 47.8% reported doing so only once or twice a year. Further, 41.3% of respondents felt that school collaboration is not feasible for most pediatricians due to barriers including limited time, scheduling issues, and knowing how to contact relevant school personnel. Most respondents reported that school collaboration was rarely addressed in residency training.