Future applications of case-based teaching in population-based prevention

The Case-Based Series in Population-Oriented Prevention (C-POP) introduced in this supplement to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine provides a set of tools to integrate clinical- and community-based prevention into interactive teaching cases. These cases, which address recommended core competencies in prevention education, have been taught to both medical students and preventive medicine residents. Initial experience with the cases indicates that this method is a promising tool to enhance prevention education in medical schools and primary care residencies. Because prevention education is essential in other fields, such as public health and nursing, extension of this approach to other professional schools is possible. Such extension is feasible because the cases are designed to be adaptable for different levels of education, flexible to be tailored to local situations, and expandable to accommodate changes in the field. In addition, the cases can be made accessible to all educators through a national library and in interactive web-based format. This article describes how the C-POP series can be used to strengthen prevention education for a wide audience of physician and nonphysician learners.