About the Program

Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics program offers a three-year fellowship training program which is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

Our goals are to produce physicians who are knowledgeable about specialty and consultative care for children and adolescents with developmental-behavioral disorders and who have met the training requirements for certification by the Subboard of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics of the American Board of Pediatrics.

Full-time and clinical faculty participate in and supervise the educational activities of the fellows, including patient care. Educational experiences encompass the content specifications for developmental-behavioral pediatrics as developed by the American Board of Pediatrics. Comprehensive care within the context of the child or adolescent environment is stressed in all areas. Our goals for residents include specialty knowledge, skills and ACGME competencies.

• Understand the major theories in behavioral/developmental pediatrics, including the following content areas:
  • Developmental domains, epochs, theoretical frameworks (maturational, Piagetian, Eriksonian, Mahler/Bowlby, Kohlberg), biological, social and environmental influences on developmental outcomes, developmental and behavioral surveillance, screening and assessment, adaptation and developmental behavioral aspects of chronic health conditions, developmental behavioral disorders for 0-3, preschool and school age children and adolescents, child abuse and neglect, sleep problems, sexuality, gender identity and orientation, atypical behaviors and pertinent psychopharmacology involved in the practice of DB Pediatrics.
• Be familiar with confounding and comorbid factors that may influence the diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
• Know etiologies, prevalence and diagnosis and treatment of the broad range of developmental and behavioral disorders of childhood and adolescence.
• Be familiar with the protocol, use reliability and validity of the various techniques for developmental and behavioral diagnostic and screening assessments.
• Display awareness of the practice management issues involved in the practice of developmental-behavioral pediatrics.
• Have a firm knowledge base and understanding of the ethical and legal aspects of developmental-behavioral pediatrics.
• Be familiar with the major modalities of intervention for developmental-behavioral disorders such as:
  • Pharmaco-therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language therapy, psychotherapy, behavior management therapy, augmentative/adaptive communication, ect. along with their associated risks.
• Be familiar with controversial modalities of intervention:
  • Nutritional supplements, visual training, patterning, etc. and their associated risk and research basis.
• Have an understanding of consultation and liaison practices between developmental-behavioral disorders and other medical, neurological and psychiatric disorders.
• Have a firm knowledge base and be able to apply research methods related to developmental-behavioral pediatrics.
• Understand ethical issues that affect medical care.

• Acquire competence in a clinical diagnosis of developmental-behavioral disorders in children and adolescents, including parent and child/adolescent interviewing and history taking, physical examination and review of evaluation results.
• Acquire competence in relating history, clinical findings and test interpretation to relevant medical, neurological, psychological, educational and social issues associated developmental/behavioral disorders and their treatments.
• Be able to formulate a differential diagnosis for all potential conditions and disorders encountered in developmental-behavioral pediatrics.
• Be able to diagnose medical and psychiatric disorders associated with developmental-behavioral conditions.
• Be able to formulate comprehensive and appropriate treatment plans, including follow-up requirements and referrals.
• Be able to provide developmental-behavioral pediatrics consultation in medical, educational and community settings.
• Be able to work with children, their families, and other members of the health care team with compassion, respect and professional integrity.
• Be able to administer and interpret developmental and behavioral screening and assessment instruments.
• Be able to interpret evaluations from related disciplines including:
  • Psycho-education, neuropsychology, psychiatry, psychology, occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech-language.
• Be able to critically evaluate the professional and scientific literature pertaining to developmental-behavioral pediatrics.
• Be able to teach trainees in related health professions on topics and issues in developmental-behavioral pediatrics.
• Be able to lecture to a broad range of audiences, including physicians and other health professionals, family members and policy makers.
• Be able to implement a research project, including:
  • Hypothesis formulation, methodology design, data collection/analysis and presentation of findings and conclusions.
• Acquire an understanding of grant writing, project management and manuscript preparation and review.
• Be able to lead and function as a member of an interdisciplinary health care team in hospital and community settings.
• Acquire an understanding of personnel management, budget management and program evaluation.

The program requires that the fellows obtain competencies in the six areas below to the level expected of a new practitioner:

• Patient care
  That is compassionate, appropriate and effective for the treatment of health problems and for the promotion of health.
• Medical knowledge
  About established and evolving biomedical, clinical and cognate (e.g. epidemiological and social-behavioral) sciences and the application of this knowledge to patient care.
• Practice-based learning and improvement
  That involves investigation and evaluation of their own patient care, appraisal and assimilation of scientific evidence and improvements in patient care.
• Interpersonal and communication skills
  That result in effective information exchange and teamwork with patients, their families and other health professionals.
• Professionalism
  As manifested through a commitment to carrying out professional responsibilities, adherence to ethical principles and sensitivity to a diverse patient population.
• Systems-based practice
  As manifested by actions that demonstrate an awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context and system of health care and the ability to effectively call on system resources to provide care that is of optimal value.