About SOUS

The Section on Uniformed Services organizes pediatricians and pediatric care providers who focus on the health of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults while serving in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Public Health Service.  Beneficiaries include those involved in our peacetime, wartime, disaster assistance or peacekeeping missions.  Our providers prepare for service to our nation in peacetime, wartime, and for humanitarian assistance as directed by national interests.  

Unique areas of expertise include community and tertiary care pediatrics in international locations, often integrating local resources; intercontinental pediatric transport; refuge and humanitarian assistance using Uniformed Services assets; and care on the battlefield for service members, many of whom are young adults.

Additional areas of expertise include: education of residents and fellows to provide care in these unique situations; medical effects of weapons of war (conventional, nuclear, and biochemical); health and disease in developing countries; epidemiology and control of disease outbreaks; transport medicine; worldwide medical ambassadors to civilian medical systems; and researchers advancing our knowledge in a broad spectrum of pediatric and basic science arenas.

On-going Section Activities (Reaffirmed commitment)

• Providing an educational forum for the discussion of challenges and discoveries relating to the global practice of Uniformed Services pediatrics.
• Stimulating research and education in pediatric medicine as encountered in the full practice of Uniformed Services pediatrics.
• Disseminating knowledge about Uniformed Services pediatrics through Academy channels to the medical profession at large and respective Surgeons General.

Priorities for the Section

• Serve as a clearinghouse for innovative educational programs/models that can be shared with other institutions across our country and the world

• Provide deployment resources to families

• Further blend service boundaries (Army, Navy, Air Force, Public Health Service)

• Communicate more effectively to the AAP and pediatric community about the unique role that uniformed service pediatricians play and how they can enhance policy, education, and training on many levels

• Nominate Section members for national committees

• Serve as a clearinghouse to identify pediatric subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists who are on duty over-seas as resources for the AAP and Section members

• Serve as a clearinghouse for back-fill needs and other reservist needs

• Develop closer relations with Chapters

• Provide leadership training/mentoring to young military pediatricians and recruit young members to the Section

The Section hosts educational programs at the NCE. One of these programs is the Uniformed Services Pediatric Seminar (USPS) which is an all-day program for uniformed services pediatricians during the AAP National Conference & Exhibition. USPS features a Scientific Awards Competition (SAC) in categories including: (1) the Ogden C. Bruton Award for basic research, (2) the Andrew M. Margileth Award for clinical research, (3) the Howard H. Johnson, Jr. Award for research during residency training, (4) the Leo J. Geppert Awards for brief clinical communications and research, (5) the Val G. Hemming Award for clinical or basic science research submitted by a medical student and (6) the Medical Education Award. Finally, USPS includes awarding of the Outstanding Service Award, the Dave Berry Award and Uniformed Services Chapters East and West Awards. 

The Section, through an elected Section Chair and elected members of the Section Executive Committee, work closely with other AAP Sections and with the AAP Uniformed Services Chapters East and West. In addition, the Section works with the Pediatric Specialty Advisors of the respective service Surgeons General, the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences; and numerous military medical facilities around the country and the world.