At the 1953 meeting of the American Pediatric Society and Society for Pediatric Research (APS-SPR), Barbara Korsch convened an informal gathering of individuals who shared the notion that outpatient care deserved more attention. Chairs, including those who were “not stereotyped with ambulatory pediatrics,” such as Saul Krugman and Emmett Holt, attended, validating ambulatory pediatrics as “worthy of attention.”1 Informal meetings ensued annually for several years. By the end of the decade, the sentiment of individuals such as Loren MacKinney was that it was time “to actually do some work.”2 Barbara Korsch surveyed the meeting participants to determine what that work might be.
