INJURY PREVENTION TRAINING IN PEDIATRIC RESIDENCY PROGRAMS

Objectives: To quantify the content and setting of injury prevention t raining provided to pediatric residents and to identify aspects of res idency programs associated with this training. Design: Mail survey. Se tting: US pediatric residency programs. Participants: Residency progra m directors. Main Outcome Measures: Number of programs stating that th ey train residents in various injury prevention topics, and the settin g of this training. Results: More than 80% of programs addressed 92% o f topics surveyed dealing with disease prevention, but only 59% of top ics dealing with injury prevention. Injury prevention topics covered l ess frequently included smoke detector use and swimming pool, sports, and firearm safety. Programs used continuity clinics most often to tea ch injury prevention. No specific program characteristic was associate d with the content or setting of injury prevention training. Residency programs located in states in which house fires, drowning, or firearm injuries are the leading causes of death were not more likely to offe r prevention training on these topics. Conclusions: Injury prevention is less frequently taught than disease prevention in pediatric residen cy training. Injury prevention is most often taught in continuity clin ics, the setting most consistent with ongoing primary patient care. A gap exists between the leading causes of injury death and injury preve ntion topics taught to pediatric residents. Residency programs must be tter recognize and adapt to the epidemiology of trauma in their commun ities, better enabling new pediatricians to meet their patient's needs .