Child Neurology: Past, Present, and Future

The emergence of child neurology as an independent discipline was enhanced by pediatricians developing an organ system approach to the study of illnesses of children and indirectly by their interest in normal psychomotor development, a function of maturation of the nervous system. Technological innovations, advances in neuroimaging, and the development of therapeutic agents directly benefited patients with neurologic disorders and enhanced the role of the neurologist. The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology was founded in 1934. It formally recognized child neurology as a special area of expertise in 1959 when Sidney Carter was appointed as a director and the clinical examination was changed to include an hour devoted specifically to child neurology. In 1969, special certificates in child neurology were issued. Thirty candidates, or more, have successfully passed the examination each year since then. As of Spring 1995, there had been 1007 certificates issued to child neurologists. In 1991 and 1992, alternate pathways to training in child neurology were developed. These substituted a year of internal medicine or a year of basic neuroscience research for 1 year of pediatrics. R