Pediatric-psychiatric liaison as a model for teaching pediatric residents.

The pediatrician's function as a comprehensive family health practitioner has frequently been ignored. A major problem is that pediatric residents are not trained or are inadequately trained to assess emotional, behavioral, and family problems that may be an integral part of the patient's symptoms. At the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, a pediatric-psychiatric liaison program has evolved in which pediatric residents learn the principles and skills necessary to manage these problems. Ultimately, the liaison program will enable the staff pediatricians who use these principles to assume appropriate responsibility for educating the pediatric trainees.