International

There had been a long history of linkages between paediatric units in Britain and those in the developing world. There were, for instance, linkages between paediatric units in London, Newcastle, Liverpool and Exeter with units overseas from the early 1950s. Heinz Fellowships were inaugurated in 1961 to assist British paediatricians to make short visits to developing countries and overseas paediatricians to attend the annual meeting of the British Paediatric Association (BPA) and to visit academic paediatric centres. By 1964 these links were becoming so common that the BPA Council appointed an Overseas Committee to oversee the arrangement of the programmes of Heinz Fellows and their supervisors. Their remit was also to review the arrangements for postgraduate education of overseas students in Britain, as well as the training of British graduates in tropical paediatrics. The booklet ‘Paediatric training in the United Kingdom’ (1968) ran to four editions and provided information about education in paediatrics for overseas postgraduates.