About this Kit

You, as a pediatrician, want to use your expertise and become directly involved with school health and safety within a community. But, where do you begin? Where can you have the most impact? What needs to be done? What are the first steps, and who do you need to contact? This kit will answer some of these general questions and provide you with a general understanding of the policies, people, and conditions that affect activities within schools.

The overall goal of this kit is to provide pediatricians who wish to become involved with school health, an introduction to the school setting, the present state of school health policies and key members within the school system, and to give them suggestions about interacting with schools. It is up to the pediatrician, and the team of concerned individualsthat he or she joins or establishes,however, to determine the direction of their specific health interests.

Each pediatrician offers a unique combination of experience and skill. Once you become involved with a particular school or set of schools, you will realize the impact that one person can have on the course of a child's life and that of a community. It is the goal of this kit to introduce the pediatrician to the possibilities of involvement with schools in the pursuit of school health and safety. It is then up to the pediatrician, the school, and the community to determine the changes they will make to meet the needs of the students and community.