The Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics was formed in 1982 (initially
called the Society for Behavioral Pediatrics), by the eleven directors
of training grants funded by the W.T. Grant Foundation for the purpose
of training pediatric residents in this field. As part of the Grant Foundation
funding, these eleven training directors met yearly between 1977 and
1982, with the goal of exchanging ideas and strategies to improve their
training mission. At the time of the planned ending of Foundation funding,
these training directors and colleagues founded the Society, in part,
to address their wish to continue this exchange of ideas. An additional
goal was to encourage research in the field through an annual meeting
that would provide a forum for the presentation of research papers. These
annual meetings have continued to grow in academic stature and attendance - in 2007, over 350 professionals attended the SDBP annual meeting. In
addition, in 1985 the Society negotiated sponsorship of the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, started in 1980 and published
by Williams & Wilkins, which continues to this date as the premier journal in the field. From
the beginning, the founders of the Society recognized the importance
of embracing the multiple disciplines that impact the field of developmental-behavioral
pediatrics. The Society 's membership and its leaders reflect this priority.
The Society has been responsible for many new programs that have helped
to provide the structure and status to insure the future of developmental
and behavioral pediatrics. Just two of many examples are mentioned here:
The Maternal and Child Health Bureau has provided funding since 1986
for 3-year research/academic fellowship programs in the field (with 10
programs funded for five-year periods in 2008) and the Society has developed
curriculum to train fellows in Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics. Fellows,
with their three years of subspecialty training including research training,
form the future academic leadership of this field. And, in 1999, after
much input from the Society, the field of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics
was approved as a subspecialty by the American Board of Medical Subspecialties;
the first Subboard of DBP within the American Board of Pediatrics was
established to collaborate with the Residency Review Committee to develop
guidelines for subspecialty fellowship training and to develop
an examination for certification of subspecialists in Developmental-Behavioral
Pediatrics. In October 2002, the first applications for accreditation
of Fellowship Programs in DBP were accepted by the Accreditation Council
for Graduate Medical Education, and as of 2008 over three dozen fellowship
programs have achieved accreditation. The fellowships are comprised of
experiences in patient care to lead to the development of clinical proficiency,
involvement in community or community-based activities, and development
of skills in teaching, program development, research, and child advocacy.
The first board certification examination in DBP was administered in
November 2002, with the first certified subspecialists in the field in
March 2003.
Beginning just over 25 years ago as a vehicle to allow 11 program directors
to continue to meet to exchange ideas about an emerging field, SDBP has
matured quickly to become an international professional organization
and subspecialty society member of the International Pediatric Association
that attracts hundreds of professionals of multiple disciplines to its
annual meetings and publishes the premier professional journal in the
field. The Society helped to launch board certification of developmental-behavioral
pediatricians, ACGME-accreditation of DBP fellowship programs, and recognition
of the field as a vital component of pediatric and other childhealth
care professional training, service, and research.
