[COMMUNITY PEDIATRICS IN ISRAEL DURING THE NEXT DECADE - A NEED FOR A CHANGE].

INTRODUCTION: Community pediatrics in Israel is based on service by pediatricians who have been trained in hospitals in Israel or elsewhere. At the same time, the field of community pediatrics is changing its nature from the management of common acute diseases, to a field dealing with a variety of chronic problems, behavioral issues, family and social issues, developmental delays, problems relating to nutrition and growth' sleep problems, learning disabilities, and of late, excessive exposure to a host of digital media. In addition, lifestyle issues such as adequate physical activity, addictions, accidents and various types of abuse are increasingly part of the pediatric role. The hospital-based residency training of pediatricians does not offer the future pediatrician the opportunity to learn these elements of the "New Morbidity". As a result, many community-based pediatricians choose not to confront these problems, and either ignore them or refer them to various consultants outside of the clinic. The entire health system, including the Ministry of Health, the Israel Medical Association, the medical schools, the health service providers (Kupot Holim) and the hospitals must cooperate in changing the format of residency training, both undergraduate and residency. This is required in order to create a new generation of pediatricians who are better equipped to deal with the increasing number of children needing help with the above-mentioned pathology. Advancing the field of primary care pediatrics by attending to these New Morbidity issues, together with pediatric involvement in community agencies, after appropriate training, will improve the health and development of the child population, together with improvement of their physical, emotional and social welfare.