Child development and pediatrics: An evolving relationship

This article comments on the role of child development in a medical context. It traces the historical evolution of pediatrics as a specialty and offers a perspective on the relationship of pediatrics and child development. It outlines some of the major premises of the biomedical model on which pediatric care has been based in the past and then points out areas in which these premises are now questioned by physicians as well as patients. As a result, the article will conclude that the time is ripe for increased exchange between the two disciplines of pediatrics and child development if both the unique contributions and limitations of each are acknowledged.