Annual Reports

2020 was a year of change, and the pediatric community responded.

Even after the World Health Organization declared a COVID-19 pandemic on March 11, 2020, the threat did not seem real to many people. Despite the rapid spread of the virus, many thought it could be controlled in a few weeks or months. The notion that a pandemic would last a year or longer — and radically change the way people around the world live, work, play, and even die — was difficult to imagine.

Yet, the pandemic did last all year, and the toll it took — including lives and livelihoods — increased with each passing month.

COVID-19 has made “uncertainty” the common condition in pediatric residency and fellowship programs.

“I am proud of the way my residents have handled this uncertainty,” says Stacey Chittle Shubeck, MD, Director, Internal Medicine/Pediatrics Residency Program and Section Head of Ambulatory Pediatrics at Beaumont Children’s Hospital in Royal Oak, MI. “They come to work every day wondering if they will get sick and, even worse, wondering if they will bring the virus home to their loved ones.”

In the spring of 2020, pediatricians across the country were facing extreme upheaval to their personal and professional lives due to the spread of the novel coronavirus. They had to learn about COVID-19 transmission, symptoms, and treatments, and many were adapting their office triage processes and switching to telemedicine, seemingly overnight.

To recognize their efforts, the ABP made the unprecedented decision to award Maintenance of Certification (MOC) points to all board-certified pediatricians. No action or documentation was required.

Few pediatricians had planned for a worldwide pandemic before the novel coronavirus led to quarantines and social distancing in March 2020. But suddenly, without much warning, the world changed. Parents feared bringing their children to pediatric appointments, yet the need for sick and well-child care continued. And pediatricians responded — with amazing resourcefulness.