Commentary: A Look at Ourselves in the Mirror

As a pediatric psychologist with some administrative duties, I keep a file of publications about salaries and work expectations of psychologists. Although these reports have more information than just salary data, more often than not I use them to assist with salary and contract benchmarks for my department. Opipari-Arrigan, Stark, and Drotar’s (2005) article adds much to those existing surveys of psychologists in general, because it provides specific information about salaries and work performance of pediatric psychologists. However, the value of this article goes well beyond the salary data presented in Tables 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. This article echoes the recurrent themes that have defined our field since its inception and that will shape the future of pediatric psychology. It is important for pediatric psychology to take periodic snapshots of these themes, both to provide benchmarks and to develop initiatives to meet future goals. Many key areas are covered by Opipari-Arrigan et al. (2005), but five stand out as recurrent themes for the field of pediatric psychology.