From Isolation to Connection: Why We Started the International Pediatric Psychopharmacology SIG

Less than a year ago, I was supervising a young trainee in a community clinic in the U.S. as she tried to figure out the right medication strategy for an adolescent with a combination of psychosis, autism, ADHD, anxiety, and trauma exposure. At the same time, I was emailing with a colleague from India about how to approach treatment in a setting where some medications were often unavailable or unaffordable. Around the same week, I received a message from a psychiatrist in Ukraine who was looking for consultation regarding a complex patient. 

Despite being from different countries and cultures, they were all asking versions of the same question: 

"What do I do—and who can I turn to for guidance?" 

That’s when the idea for the International Pediatric Psychopharmacology Special Interest Group (IPP SIG) really started to take shape. 

We often talk about how under-resourced child mental health care is. Just consider these numbers: 

• In the United States, we have about 1 child psychiatrist for every 10,000 youth. 
• In other high-income countries, it’s about 1 per 100,000 youth. 
• In many low- and middle-income countries, it drops to less than 1 per 1,000,000 youth. 

These figures aren’t just statistics—they're daily reminders that many providers work in extreme isolation, without access to evolving knowledge, reliable mentorship, or clinical peer support. 

If we are to rise to this challenge, we need to reimagine the role of child psychiatrists. Yes, we are clinicians—but we must also be educators, connectors, advocates, and system builders. 

And while child psychiatry is a broad field, pediatric psychopharmacology is one of our most visible and foundational responsibilities. It’s where science, medicine, and public health intersect. It’s also where so many trainees and early-career clinicians might feel most uncomfortable and alone. 

That’s why we’re starting here. 

The IPP SIG was created under the umbrella of IACAPAP to bring together clinicians, educators, and trainees who want to learn, share, and grow in a collaborative, international space. Together, we hope to: 

• Build a global support network for learning and sharing medication practices. 
• Promote bidirectional learning—so that knowledge doesn’t just flow from high-resource settings to low-resource ones, but goes both ways. 
• Support research, mentorship, and innovation, especially in places where isolation and underfunding are the norm. 

We're considering virtual consultation models, developing a resource hub on the IACAPAP website, and co-creating cross-cultural teaching events and webinars. But more than anything, we want this to be a space shaped by your input. 

Whether you're a trainee, a seasoned clinician, or somewhere in between—if you're someone who has ever felt the weight of a tough prescribing decision, wondered how others around the world are handling similar challenges, or wished you had more support—this group is for you. 

We want to hear from you: 
📧 What topics do you care about? 
📧 What would help you feel less alone and more empowered in your practice? 
📧 What’s the one thing that would make the biggest difference where you work? 

Please write to us at IPPsigiacapap@gmail.com. Your voice will help shape our first IPP SIG Webinar and guide everything that follows. To become a member of IPP SIG, please complete your registration via the link.

We’re not starting from scratch. We're building on the energy, experience, and hopes of people like you—around the world—who know that better care is possible when we work together. 

Let’s start this journey. 

To learn more about the IPP SIG and view my full profile, visit the IACAPAP website: International Pediatric Psychopharmacology – Special Interest Group

This article represents the view of its author(s) and does not necessarily represent the view of the IACAPAP's bureau or executive committee.

IACAPAP Bulletin, Issue 78