PEDIATRICIANS AND A COMMUNITY CHILD GUIDANCE CLINIC

A personal survey was conducted of fifty-two pediatricians in thirty-two private practices to determine their impressions of psychiatric consultation with a community child guidance clinic. Their comments were correlated with data from Clinic records over a five-year period. Prolonged waiting for initial service and ineffective communication were major problems voiced by pediatricians and confirmed by Clinic records. Improvements in these problems can occur when attention is given to more expeditious intake procedures, to a better use of professional co-ordination, and to improved educational programs in child mental health care.