Medical teaching of childhood diseases and action to improve child health goes back to the founding of the medical school.
1888
The first academic position specifically dedicated to child health was held by Dr Isaiah de Zouche, a graduate of Queens University (Ireland) and MRCS (London), who was appointed as Honorary Lecturer in Diseases of Children in 1888; eleven years after the Medical School was established under Professor John Halliday Scott. Dr Frederic Truby King was also made an Honorary Lecturer in Mental Diseases around the same time, who went on to found the Royal New Zealand Plunket Society.
1940 to 1980
It was first suggested that a Chair of Paediatrics at Otago should be established as early as 1940, but the war meant these plans were never followed through. The project was revived in 1964 and finally James Michael Watt was appointed as New Zealand's first Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health in 1967. It was during this time that postgraduate teaching began to flourish in Dunedin and a number of his former residents proceeded to prominent paediatric positions both within New Zealand and overseas. Professor Watt had a special interest in inborn errors of metabolism, and collaborated with Professor Arthur M O Veale (a geneticist) in establishing the Guthrie Card testing regime for all newborn infants in New Zealand, following a visit by the developer of the test, Dr Robert Guthrie, in 1968–1969.
Another notable milestone in paediatric care in New Zealand came from Dr Helen Deem, who was appointed as an Assistant Lecturer in 1947; she was responsible for introducing growth charts into the surveillance of well being of infants and young children.
1967 to 1980
In 1967 Dr Patricia Buckfield, an Otago graduate, was appointed as Lecturer following a period of postgraduate training at the Institute of Child Health at Hammersmith Hospital, London. Dr Buckfield had a particular interest in neonatology and had gathered data on every baby born at Dunedin's Queen Mary obstetric hospital between 1967 and 1973; 12,000 in all. From her research came the creation of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Unit under the direction of Dr Phil A Silva. This Unit evolved from an initial study of 1,037 infants born in the Dunedin area between 1 April 1972 and 30 March 1973. The research from this study has achieved international acclaim for its contributions to understanding human health and development from infancy to adult life, and has resulted in the publication of several hundred scientific papers.
1981 to 1998
In 1981, a Diploma of Child Health (Otago) was established with support from clinical schools in Wellington and Christchurch. Initially, this diploma was intended to raise the standard of paediatrics amongst those intending to enter general practice, but rapidly it also became a preliminary stepping-stone for those proceeding to FRACP (Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians) and specialist practice.
1999 to 2024
In 1999, the Department of Women's and Children's Health was formed by combining the previous Department of Paediatrics and Child Health with the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. The amalgamation aimed to strengthen the research interests of the two departments and streamline the medical teaching programme.
This new Department had two sections: the Section of Paediatrics and Child Health, and the Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. In their previous incarnations as stand-alone departments, both of these sections have long histories with important contributions to the advancement of women's and children's health in New Zealand.
After amalgamation, the Department steadily grew, along with its success and reputation from research that attracted a national and international reputation for excellence.
2025–present
However, following department review and changes in teaching at the medical school, and to create alignment across the Faculty of Medicine, the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health was reformed.
New areas of medical research are being explored, and the next generation of staff continue the proud history of this department.