Survey Suggests Education Objectives to Improve Practice Activities

In an article that appears in this issue, Kimm and colleagues have provided excellent background data concerning how primary care physicians identify and manage cardiovascular risk factors in children. Their well-designed national survey of physicians who provide primary care to children illustrates patterns of practice that can be used to design appropriate continuing medical education courses to meet practitioner needs. It also identifies the necessity for education relating to cardiovascular risk factors, ie, less than one third of the surveyed primary care givers knew the three major risk factors (smoking, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertension). The information acquired from this national survey is also relevant to the design of undergraduate and residency education as well.

If preventing premature adult-onset coronary artery disease is a salutary goal for the primary care physician (of children), then the article by Kimm and colleagues provides an excellent road map for the direction and strategies necessary to