The objectives of the school health service have undergone radical changes since the introduction of medical inspection into the Boston schools in 1894. While the only purpose of early medical inspection was the control of communicable diseases, school health programs today are designed to serve in the much broader field of health guidance and education.
In New York city the Department of Health during the past several years has introduced changes in school health procedures1 and has conducted an intensive staff-training program for the purpose of emphasizing the health guidance aspect of the service. The school medical examination is now becoming an educational tool. The school physician is concerned with the child as an individual. He seeks to obtain such information, through the history and the examination of the child, as will help him to guide the parents in planning for the care of the health problems which are