Community Pediatrics: The Rochester Story

Abstract

There are so many problems facing children today (eg, violence, poor nutrition, substance abuse, teen pregnancy) that conventional medical care can only address a small portion of these concerns. Thus, to be optimally effective, pediatrics needs to be linked to other disciplines and programs that address these issues by using different paradigms. Robert Haggerty, the originator of the term “community pediatrics,” reflects on how one can successfully practice community pediatrics in an academic setting and model it for young physicians while also improving the health of children at the community level. Here we tell the story of the years that Haggerty was chief of pediatrics at the University of Rochester and took on the challenge of fulfilling the department's responsibility to all children in the county. Because of his pioneering work, his tenure was heralded as a critical period in the development of the field of community pediatrics.