Seeing the Wellness in Our Patients and Ourselves Through the 2020 Lens of Pediatrics

With the start of each new year, we as editors like to reflect on our journal and share with you our thoughts on how Pediatrics can best align with the needs of children while also supporting the many pediatric health care professionals who also strive to meet those needs.

This year, the issues facing pediatric health care professionals are as challenging as they have ever been. As illustrated in articles we have published in 2019, reducing disparities in health outcomes, the intertwining of genetics and the environment, and the integration of behavioral and mental health into virtually all aspects of pediatric care have become increasingly important areas of study.

In 2020, we hope to publish even more research studies on issues and controversies that clinicians, patients, and their families encounter every day (eg, vaping, firearms, mental health and well-being, vaccine hesitancy) with a diverse array of article types. Our goal is to publish studies that could change the way you practice but also to describe the health issues that we face as pediatric clinicians from different angles with a variety of formats that go beyond our usual array of clinical research studies and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) policies. In the coming year, expect to see more state-of-the-art reviews, ethics rounds, and diagnostic dilemmas and clinical reasoning articles; case reports; quality improvement and advocacy case reports; collaborative narratives written jointly by clinicians and families; and monthly feature articles that range from topics in global health to topics of relevance to trainees and medical educators. We have expanded the content and format of our journal because we believe that this rich range of content will better reflect what you, our readers, have told us would be useful to meet your lifelong learning needs. To provide that content, our editorial board now includes not just pediatricians but a psychologist and a parent who is not a health care professional. We plan to add more nonphysician health professionals and public members in the year ahead to ensure we are viewing child health topics and controversies from all perspectives.

We also recognize the importance of ensuring that clinicians and families are aware of the innovations, discoveries, and thoughtful commentary contained in every issue. In 2020, we are focusing on how best to present content to our readers who might not have the time to read our journal cover to cover but need to find articles of interest to their practice. Beginning with this issue of our journal, you will notice that we have made changes to enhance the online formatting of individual articles and the ability to easily navigate our Web site (https://pediatrics.aappublications.org) to locate content. We will continue to expand the number of articles with video abstracts but also put them in a centralized location (https://www.aappublications.org). We will continue to expand our offering of collections of important articles on important themes (https://www.aappublications.org/pediatriccollections). Of course, we will let you know about articles through our social media channels (@aap_pediatrics on Instagram, @AAPJournals on Twitter, AAP Pediatrics on Facebook). Later this year, we will participate in piloting an AAP podcast, providing timely, informational, and educational content culled from our journal and other AAP publications to pediatricians, health care professionals, parents, and others interested in child health.

As we begin the year 2020, pediatricians face many challenges. This is reflected in the disheartening statistics related to burnout.¹  Yet, we also believe that there are tremendous opportunities for those of us who have chosen to become pediatricians and, in doing so, improve the health and well-being of all children. Such opportunities are reflected in the advancements in pediatric care that are contained in the articles we publish every month. It is because of these advancements that we believe that there is no better time to be a pediatrician. We hope that you agree with others who tell us that they feel reenergized by engaging in the journal and are reminded in doing so of the joy of dedicating our professional lives to the betterment of children’s health.

We would like to end this commentary with a note of gratitude to the authors who submit their work to us and for the reviewers who generously share their expertise and time. Starting this month, we will begin offering part 2 Maintenance of Certification credits in addition to the continuing medical education credit already offered to those who write thorough reviews (according to our reviewer guidelines). We could not do what we do without the dedication, commitment, and ongoing enthusiasm of our editorial board. Most of all, however, it is you, our readers, for whom we are most grateful. Our journal continuously improves thanks to your ongoing suggestions and comments, and in doing so, we hope the articles we publish improve the care we provide to all children, which is the true mission of Pediatrics.

AAP

American Academy of Pediatrics