title: The pediatric surgeon and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): an important partnership for surgeons and children.
abstract: The American Academy of Pediatrics provided a home for pediatric surgery when organized surgery did not recognize the specialty. They have continued to support surgical specialties in their pursuit of quality in education, training and practice. The AAP has appropriate infrastructure to support advocacy at both the federal and state levels. The fact that it does not have a PAC, and that it always puts the child first, has given it great credibility. Much of the AAP infrastructure is already used by surgeons to advocate for their patients, but still more opportunities for collaboration are available.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Surgical Advisory Panel and AAP Section on Surgery, Arvin I. Philippart Chair of Pediatric Surgical Research, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI 48201, USA. mklein@dmc.org
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Klein
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002651:Child Advocacy; D006801:Humans; D010344:Patient Advocacy; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012955:Societies, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013043:Specialties, Surgical / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States
keywords: AAP; American Academy of Pediatrics; Pediatric surgery; Surgical Section