Are we on the right track? Examining the role of developmental behavioral pediatrics.

I recently reflected on whether developmental behavioral pediatrics (DBP) is on the right track. Along with most section members of my generation, I first became involved with clinical care, teaching, and research activities as a general pediatrician (not a subspecialist) and saw and continue to view development and behavior (DB) as the foundation of pediatrics. This generalist perspective may puzzle those trained subsequently in DBP fellowships, but the generation that defined the field did so because it was concerned that many pediatricians were not adequately prepared to understand DB aspects of the care they were expected to provide, regardless of setting or venue. I am part of a generation that saw DB as so fundamental to all clinical pediatrics that it was hard to segregate it as a subspecialty. Today, fewer share this perspective, because fellowship training typically occurs before a clinician has a chance to practice general pediatrics and this historical perspective is not emphasized.