ABSTRACT
Pediatrics had its beginnings as an organized specialty in the United States in the late 1800s when a small group of doctors with a growing interest in studying and treating the diseases of children united to create the first formal pediatric organizations in the country. Initially they called themselves "pediatrists" and their area of interest was called "pediatry" or "pedology" (King, 1993:69). But by the beginning of the 1900s these terms were replaced by "pediatrician" and "pediatrics," probably to prevent confusion with podiatry, a term that refers to the study of diseases of the foot (Cone, 1979:70). Over the next several decades pediatrics grew into one of the most popular and thriving specialties in medicine. In this chapter I cover the key moments and central organizational milestones in that development.
