Review of the training program of pediatric residents: is it appropriate for their future careers?

Training of pediatric residents is a dynamic process which should be changed as the nature and epidemiology of pediatric diseases change. In this study, we compared the training program of the pediatric residents with the disorders of the pediatric patients who had referred to pediatric offices. The study was conducted in pediatric offices in Shiraz, South of Iran. The main complaints of all the patients who were referred to these offices in the first 3 days of the four seasons of the year were recorded. Finally, descriptive statistics was used to determine the frequency of different complaints among these patients. There are 58 Pediatrics offices in Shiraz and 37 offices completed the questioners (64%). The most frequent complaints of the patients were related to infections, especially respiratory and gastrointestinal ones. Nutritional and growth problems were other frequent complaints. Nonetheless, a high number of the patients were referred due to skin, eye, or ear problems or for check up of the baby. There is an important training–practice problem in the curriculum of pediatric residents. Thus, we suggest decreasing the periods of inpatient subspecialty training and increasing the period of outpatient dermatology, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, and well-baby clinics.