School Physicians » About Us 

Physicians associated with schools have held a variety of titles throughout history. What is a school physician? A school physician is any physician who serves in any capacity for a school district, such as, but not limited to, an advisor, consultant, medical director, volunteer, team physician, medical inspector, or district physician. The tradition of a school physician dates back to the late 1800s, as parents and public officials recognized that public school facilities needed a national systematic medical inspection. Over time, the role of the school medical inspector expanded to include containment of prevalent infectious diseases of childhood and eventually became an important vehicle to manage mass immunization. Today school physicians tend to focus on the needs of individual children and the overall public health of a school. They often assist schools in accommodating students who have special health care needs, managing acute and chronic illness, overseeing the emergency response, environmental health and safety, health promotion and education, and providing much-needed medical support to school nursing staff. Our well-placed school physician experts can contribute to creating policies and practices that offer sound, evidence-based structure to coordinated school health teams and help provide peace of mind to teachers, administrators, and staff.