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To date, evidence suggests that, across disciplines, the educational preparation of health professionals has not kept pace. Those involved in the education of clinicians, researchers, and educators in adolescent health are currently faced with the need to rethink traditional educational strategies. Concurrent with a shift in the primary causes of morbidity and mortality in adolescence, from infectious to social aetiologies, is an emerging clarity about the success of integrated comprehensive service settings in addressing adolescents' health needs. One approach for better preparing health providers to work in multiservice settings is to provide training in interdisciplinary programmes. Various models for interdisciplinary education in adolescent health exist; characteristics common to all are delineated. Whereas obstacles to the creation and implementation of interdisciplinary programmes, including institutional, financial, and educational barriers, are great, the need to overcome them is critical if we are to keep pace with the changing needs of the adolescent population.

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The following special report was developed by the staff of the Division of Maternal and Child Health, Bureau of Health Care Delivery and Assistance, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as background material for a conference on “Health of School‐age Children” conducted in March 1982 by the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, School of Nursing in conjunction with the Division of Maternal and Child Health. The American School Health Association believes there is an urgent need to communicate the issues and concerns expressed in the special report to those members who have responsibility in the field for providing leadership in the planning and implementation of programs for school‐age children and youth. The Journal of School Health is pleased to have the opportunity to present this special report to its readership.

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