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To the Editor: Dr. Forfar's article on pediatrics in America cannot go unanswered. A busy pediatrician's practice is not limited to caring for well newborns and minor illnesses only. He sees a great deal of pathology which he has been trained to recognize and treat both in his office and in the hospital. Indeed he would be a poor pediatrician if he could not follow his patient to the hospital. In my own case I also assist at operations which make me a better diagnostician. Obscure cases which cannot be handled locally can be referred to larger teaching centers, but this is infrequent. On the whole we give our patients a very high level of pediatric care.
In my opinion, the glaring weakness of the British system is that the practicing physician becomes degraded to a referral agent only and cannot follow his patient into the hospital.
Dr. Forfar should