The Developmental Case Conference as a Method of Teaching Pediatricians About Child Development on an Inpatient Service

Teaching pediatricians about child development on an inpatient service can pose difficult problems for the psychologist-consultant. This paper describes the evolution of a weekly case conference devoted to teaching child develop ment to the pediatric staff on a hospital division devoted to the care of young infants. A format involving live demonstration of developmental assessment is seen as a stimulating and effective way to convey information about child development to pediatricians. A case example illustrates the advantages of this conference in facilitating pediatric observations, and early recognition of developmental problems.