Child psychiatry in Israel: history and trends.

Child psychiatry is a relatively new medical profession in Israel. For many years adult psychiatrists treated children and adolescents without official recognition of the profession. The development of child psychiatry in the medical world, the determination of colleagues and support of outstanding child psychiatrists from abroad (Professors Solnit and Noshpitz) led to the acknowledgment and official recognition of child psychiatry by the Scientific Council of the Israel Medical Association in 1981. Almost all graduates in child and adolescent psychiatry in Israel fill responsible positions and prove the necessity for more child psychiatrists and child psychiatry in the medical and psychiatric system both in hospitals and in the community.