Ambulatory Pediatrics – The APA Journal - James Perrin, MD

The APA publishes a bimonthly journal, Ambulatory Pediatrics, which focuses on advancing the field of general academic pediatrics with articles on pediatric education, health policy and general pediatric research. The journal continues its leadership in a number of important areas of general academic pediatrics. The journal has become the leading journal in pediatric education research and has an excellent reputation as the top forum for pediatric health services research.

Ambulatory Pediatrics is in its seventh year as an independent journal (and the ninth year altogether). In 2007, we began a new section on personal narratives (In the Moment), which Anjali Jain and John Andrews co-edit. “In the Moment” is a forum for authors to relate their personal experience of pediatrics, pieces about their research, their contact with patients, the influence of mentors, the impact of policy and current events, and the relationship of their work to their lives, and the lives of others. The section publishes essays that describe these experiences and make connections to larger themes in pediatric education, research, policy and clinical care.

We are also delighted to have a new perspectives section that Elena Fuentes-Afflick leads. This section provides new and organized reviews in areas of importance in academic general pediatrics. These manuscripts will generally be up to 4500-5000 words, longer than the usual limit for a research manuscript. In most cases, the journal solicits these perspectives, although authors wishing to propose one may contact the journal directly. This new section follows on early experience by the journal, when we solicited a number of very good commentaries on areas of interest to academic general pediatricians (e.g., measuring immunization performance; injury control; child maltreatment; on parents; effective ambulatory teaching). Elena is leading this effort to have a consistent set of perspectives. We have a number currently in different stages of development, and we hope that the first will be published later this year.

Ruth Etzel serves as the book review editor for the journal. The first two book reviews appeared in the September-October 2004 issue of the journal, and we continue to publish 3-5 reviews each year.

The journal continues its leadership in a number of important areas of general academic pediatrics. We have become the leading journal in pediatric education research. We have an excellent reputation as well as the top forum for pediatric health services research. The annual report on health care utilization and quality supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has been a highlight (and the manuscript with the most website “hits” each year). An increasing amount of qualitative research is also one of the few places where authors can publish manuscripts on scientific methods.

The journal also publishes supplements. The January-February 2007 issue, published jointly with the Journal of Pediatric Psychology in their July issue. This supplement includes papers presented at a conference directed by the American Academy of Pediatrics in summer 2005 measuring outcomes for children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and fits the journal’s commitment to methodologic issues in child health. These papers will also hopefully affect practice guidelines for ADHD as well through more attention to certain key child and family outcomes.

We have published much work also in research methodology, immunization, health policy, child development and behavior, adolescent medicine, child abuse, advocacy, pediatric emergency medicine, chronic conditions in childhood, and pediatric environmental health.

The Letter from the Editor in each issue addresses a current topic (recent ones on EPSDT, human disasters, and health insurance). We have also had a series of brief commentaries on topics or reports of particular interest to the academic general pediatric community, many of them arising from important Institute of Medicine reports.