Primary care pediatrics vs. family practice: a nonissue.

As in other areas of the world, in Israel there is an ongoing discussion about who should provide primary health care for children--the family physician or a pediatric specialist. Since the problem should be defined in terms of the health needs of the child, and not in terms of the social groupings of the medical profession, a primary care pediatric model, such as that established by the Health Sciences Center of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Ofakim, could serve as a prototype for comparison with family practice clinics to see which is closer to the needs of children.