Forging a career as a community paediatrician

Community Child Health (community paediatrics) is a challenging and fulfilling career, working with vulnerable children with developmental disorders, disabilities, those who are at risk of abuse, children looked after by the Local Authority or who are being adopted. Community paediatricians work in a variety of settings, provide personal continuity of care and excel in multi-agency working with statutory and other services. Alongside their clinical skills, they also play a vital role in planning and implementing local health improvements for all children in their area. This review summarizes how community paediatrics developed in the UK, the current training programme for consultant community paediatricians and the kind of posts available. Community paediatrics is a shortage speciality and there will be plenty of posts in the UK for the foreseeable future. We hope that this article will help medical students and paediatricians in training to make better informed career choices and offer encouragement to readers who are considering subspecialising in this dynamic and fulfilling area of paediatrics.