Key factors in the establishment of pediatric surgery: Who did it and how?

This review details essential factors in the establishment of the specialty of Pediatric Surgery in the United States as well as the individuals involved to the time of Board certification, which was the final step in the specialty. Foremost in the effort was D. H. William Clatworthy, who devised an intentional stepwise strategy to create an organizational structure necessary for recognition of Pediatric Surgery as an integral part of American Surgery. Clatworthy's efforts to establish standards for training programs, a curriculum for training, and metrics for certification were pivotal for what we have today.