CE Irwin, Jr

Abstract

The development of the medical curricula for students in medical school, residents in primary care specialties and subspecialty training in Adolescent Medicine has been an evolving process over the past fifty years in the United States (U.S.). This paper highlights the historical trends with a special emphasis on what has been learned in the development of Adolescent Medicine curricula in subspecialty fellowship training and pediatric programs. The Medical System within the U.S. has acknowledged Adolescent Medicine as a special area for over fifty years with the establishment of special clinical delivery programs for adolescents and young adults. In the late 1960's, the Society for Adolescent Medicine (SAM) was formed to promote the development, synthesis and dissemination of scientific and scholarly information unique to the development and health care of adolescents. In the 1970's, the professional organizations in Pediatrics embraced the concept of Adolescent Medicine with the establishment of subspecialty sections within the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Pediatric Academic Societies. In 1979, the Task Force on Pediatrics recommended that educational programs in Pediatrics should increase their emphasis on adolescent health. With this recommendation, the pediatric residency training requirements began to evolve to include Adolescent Medicine as a special emphasis area with the eventual establishment of a one-month requirement for residency education in the mid 1990's. Family Practice and Internal Medicine residency programs now include Adolescent Medicine as a special area with no designated time requirement. Concurrently, the subspecialty certification process for Adolescent Medicine emerged within the American Boards of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine, the certifying bodies for specialization for these primary care specialties. In 2002, Family Practice joined with the two other primary care specialties to offer subspecialty training in Adolescent Medicine. Over the past decade, there has been a gradual movement within medical education to increase the content of education related to life-span development. This emphasis has enabled Adolescent Medicine to be more fully integrated into the medical curriculum during the first two years of medical education.