Traditional medical school curriculum has emphasized the treatment of disease. The discipline of preventive cardiology is concerned with modification of environmental factors and learned habit patterns which may stimulate the development of cardiovascular diseases. Prevention of heart diseases may be accomplished through community education and advocacy of personal responsibility for maintenance of health. We will develop, implement, and evaluate an interdisciplinary curriculum which will emphasize prevention of: atherosclerosis, hypertension, acute rheumatic fever, infectious endocarditis, congenital heart diseases, and acquired neonatal cardiovascular diseases. Medical students and house officers will participate in the development of a core curriculum and a senior elective in Heart Disease Prevention, which will include: experience in the principles and practice of prevention through the Lipid Surveillance and Pediatric Hypertension Clinics, education and practical experience in teaching of children through the Cleveland Health Education Museum, and participation in selected activities of the Golden Empire Chapter of the AHA. We will develop, implement, and evaluate a community curriculum to be used to teach the principles of prevention to children and adults. Heightened awareness of the medical students and the School of Medicine to the importance of concepts of prevention will be achieved through a yearly postgraduate Preventive Cardiology Symposium. The principal investigator will implement a plan for personal development which will enhance his capability to teach the concepts of preventive cardiology. A Heart Disease Prevention Planning Advisory Group will be formed, whose members will work with the principal investigator to achieve the stated goals. The development of a comprehensive interdisciplinary program in heart disease prevention is a stated goal of the principal investigator, is consistent with the mission of the Division of Pediatric Cardiology, and has the support of the administration of the Case-Western Reserve University School of Medicine (see attached letter).
