This application requests support for a Preventive Cardiology Academic Award to develop, implement, and evaluate a program in preventive cardiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. The dual long range goals of this program are to establish a formal curriculum that will privide medical students and housestaff with opportunities to learn the principles and practice of preventive cardiology and to foster research and careers in preventive cardiology. A preventive cardiology curriculum will be integrated into existing required preclinical courses, clinical clerkships, and housestaff education programs. Further development of existing strategies for integrating the practice of preventive cardiology into medical care -- a primary care cardiovascular health maintenance program and a specialized risk factor reduction clinic will provide laboratories for teaching and research related to preventive cardiology. A multi-disciplinary faculty will assist the awardee in these efforts. Effectiveness of the program will be evaluated in terms of changes in the curriculum, students, faculty, career development of the awardee, and institutional committment that result from The Preventive Cardiology Academic Award Program.
