Failure of Israeli pediatric residency curricula to cover child development and special education issues: results of a national survey on levels of knowledge

Abstract Background There is an increasing prevalence of developmental difficulties among Israeli children. We aimed to assess whether pediatricians are equipped to diagnose and manage them. Methods We assessed the knowledge of basic child development issues and availability of services and content...

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Main Authors: Itay Tokatly Latzer, Zachi Grossman, Nimrod Sachs, Orr Yahal, Daniel Even-Zohar, Lior Carmon, Hadar Flor-Hirsch, Amit Ringel, Christopher Fady Farah, Moran Avni-Maskit, Yael Leitner
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2021-09-01
Series:Israel Journal of Health Policy Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s13584-021-00480-y
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author Itay Tokatly Latzer
Zachi Grossman
Nimrod Sachs
Orr Yahal
Daniel Even-Zohar
Lior Carmon
Hadar Flor-Hirsch
Amit Ringel
Christopher Fady Farah
Moran Avni-Maskit
Yael Leitner
author_facet Itay Tokatly Latzer
Zachi Grossman
Nimrod Sachs
Orr Yahal
Daniel Even-Zohar
Lior Carmon
Hadar Flor-Hirsch
Amit Ringel
Christopher Fady Farah
Moran Avni-Maskit
Yael Leitner
author_sort Itay Tokatly Latzer
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background There is an increasing prevalence of developmental difficulties among Israeli children. We aimed to assess whether pediatricians are equipped to diagnose and manage them. Methods We assessed the knowledge of basic child development issues and availability of services and content of special education systems among a randomly selected national sample of residents and senior Israeli pediatricians. This was done via an 70-itemed survey developed especially for this study which consisted of seven main subjects: developmental milestones, global developmental delay, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, protocol for referring to a child development institute, availability and facilities of special education systems, and medical conditions associated with developmental delay. Results A total of 310 pediatricians (an 86 % usable response rate) participated. The total median knowledge score was 32.1 % (IQR 17.8–53.5 %). Knowledge was significantly better among senior pediatricians (p < .001), those working in an office-based setting (p < .001), and those who were parents (p < .001) or had a family history of a developmental condition (p = .003). Most responders (94 %) felt that their resident training in child development was inadequate, and that they do not have sufficient access to resources and guidelines about child development and special education systems (80 %). Conclusions The gap in knowledge on topics of child development and special education systems among Israeli pediatricians stems from inadequacies in the current curricula of pediatric residencies. The alarmingly low scores of our survey on these issues call for prompt revamping of the syllabus to include them.
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spelling doaj.art-70d5b73d907845f096135444867539c52022-12-21T22:51:28ZengBMCIsrael Journal of Health Policy Research2045-40152021-09-0110111010.1186/s13584-021-00480-yFailure of Israeli pediatric residency curricula to cover child development and special education issues: results of a national survey on levels of knowledgeItay Tokatly Latzer0Zachi Grossman1Nimrod Sachs2Orr Yahal3Daniel Even-Zohar4Lior Carmon5Hadar Flor-Hirsch6Amit Ringel7Christopher Fady Farah8Moran Avni-Maskit9Yael Leitner10Child Development Institute, The Dana-Dwek Children’s Hospital, Tel Aviv Medical CenterPediatric Clinic, Maccabi Healthcare ServicesSackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv UniversitySackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv UniversityDepartment of Pediatrics, Hadassah Medical CenterDepartment of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Soroka University Medical CenterSackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv UniversityDepartment of Pediatrics, Kaplan Medical CenterDepartment of Pediatrics, Ruth Rappaport Children’s Hospital, Rambam Health Care Campus, Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, TechnionDepartment of Pediatrics, HaEmek Medical CenterChild Development Institute, The Dana-Dwek Children’s Hospital, Tel Aviv Medical CenterAbstract Background There is an increasing prevalence of developmental difficulties among Israeli children. We aimed to assess whether pediatricians are equipped to diagnose and manage them. Methods We assessed the knowledge of basic child development issues and availability of services and content of special education systems among a randomly selected national sample of residents and senior Israeli pediatricians. This was done via an 70-itemed survey developed especially for this study which consisted of seven main subjects: developmental milestones, global developmental delay, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, protocol for referring to a child development institute, availability and facilities of special education systems, and medical conditions associated with developmental delay. Results A total of 310 pediatricians (an 86 % usable response rate) participated. The total median knowledge score was 32.1 % (IQR 17.8–53.5 %). Knowledge was significantly better among senior pediatricians (p < .001), those working in an office-based setting (p < .001), and those who were parents (p < .001) or had a family history of a developmental condition (p = .003). Most responders (94 %) felt that their resident training in child development was inadequate, and that they do not have sufficient access to resources and guidelines about child development and special education systems (80 %). Conclusions The gap in knowledge on topics of child development and special education systems among Israeli pediatricians stems from inadequacies in the current curricula of pediatric residencies. The alarmingly low scores of our survey on these issues call for prompt revamping of the syllabus to include them.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13584-021-00480-yChild developmentspecial educationpediatricstrainingresidency
spellingShingle Itay Tokatly Latzer
Zachi Grossman
Nimrod Sachs
Orr Yahal
Daniel Even-Zohar
Lior Carmon
Hadar Flor-Hirsch
Amit Ringel
Christopher Fady Farah
Moran Avni-Maskit
Yael Leitner
Failure of Israeli pediatric residency curricula to cover child development and special education issues: results of a national survey on levels of knowledge
Israel Journal of Health Policy Research
Child development
special education
pediatrics
training
residency
title Failure of Israeli pediatric residency curricula to cover child development and special education issues: results of a national survey on levels of knowledge
title_full Failure of Israeli pediatric residency curricula to cover child development and special education issues: results of a national survey on levels of knowledge
title_fullStr Failure of Israeli pediatric residency curricula to cover child development and special education issues: results of a national survey on levels of knowledge
title_full_unstemmed Failure of Israeli pediatric residency curricula to cover child development and special education issues: results of a national survey on levels of knowledge
title_short Failure of Israeli pediatric residency curricula to cover child development and special education issues: results of a national survey on levels of knowledge
title_sort failure of israeli pediatric residency curricula to cover child development and special education issues results of a national survey on levels of knowledge
topic Child development
special education
pediatrics
training
residency
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s13584-021-00480-y
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