Residents as health advocates: The development, implementation and evaluation of a child advocacy initiative at the University of Toronto (Toronto, Ontario).

Background And Objective: Advocacy is an integral part of a paediatrician's role. The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada has identified advocacy as one of the essential Canadian Medical Education Directives for Specialists competencies, and participation in child advocacy work as an important component of paediatric residency training. The objective of the present paper was to describe the development, implementation and evaluation of the first four years of the child advocacy initiative at the University of Toronto (Toronto, Ontario).

Parents' responses to symptoms of respiratory tract infection in their children.

Background: Little is known about the determinants of parental response when children appear to have a respiratory tract infection (RTI). Our objective was to identify what factors predict that parents will seek medical consultation.

Methods: In a prospective cohort study we consecutively recruited 400 children aged 2 months to 12 years from the urban, largely middle-class, primary-care practices of 7 pediatricians in Toronto.