Need for Pediatric Resident Training in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Preparation for Primary Care

Need for Pediatric Resident Training in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Preparation for Primary Care

Author Info

Corresponding Author
Jeffrey F. Hine
Departments of Pediatrics, The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN

A B S T R A C T

Introduction: The increased prevalence of autism spectrum disorder and documented benefits of early intensive intervention have created a need for flexible systems for determining eligibility for autism-specific services, including primary care provider training. Unfortunately, many pediatricians feel uncertain assessing diagnostic risk and facilitating follow-up care for children with autism. Methods: We surveyed current residents regarding their confidence around engaging in specific practice behaviors and providing care for patients presenting with concerns for autism compared to other common concerns seen in primary care. Results: Residents were significantly more confident in their skills with respect to caring for patients with other common concerns than for patients with autism including statistically significant differences in their perceived ability to diagnose, communicate with families about, treat/manage, and facilitate follow-up care. Additionally, nearly all residents with career plans for primary care indicated that autism concerns should fall within their scope of practice and that further training and education about autism is important to their careers. Discussion: These findings underscore that although many current residents feel that being able to recognize and diagnose autism is important, they feel unprepared to do so within current training models and will likely carry this uncertainty forward into future practice. This study reflects clear targets for advancing incorporation of enhanced and active autism-specific training into pediatric residency programs.

Article Info

Article Type
Research Article
Publication history
Received: Mon 21, Oct 2019
Accepted: Thu 14, Nov 2019
Published: Thu 28, Nov 2019
Copyright
© 2023 Jeffrey F. Hine. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Hosting by Science Repository.
DOI: 10.31487/j.PDR.2019.04.01