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The Confederation of Postgraduate Medical Education Councils launched the Australian Curriculum Framework for Junior Doctors in October 2006. The curriculum framework: balances the major areas of clinical management, communication and professionalism, and highlights the importance of an integrated approach to prevocational learning and teaching; supports practice‐based, opportunistic and continuous learning, and specifies performance and supervision requirements for junior doctors; and has been published in both Internet and printable versions, to make the document accessible and easily usable by junior doctors and supervisors. The implementation of the curriculum framework will be overseen by a steering group that includes representatives from key stakeholder groups, including junior doctors and medical students.

The lack of cohesion across health and education sections and national and state jurisdictions is counterproductive to effective national policies in medical education and training. Existing systems in Australia for medical education and training lack coordination, and are under‐resourced and under pressure. There is a need for a coordinated national approach to assessment of international medical graduates, and for meeting their education and training needs. The links between prevocational and vocational training must be improved. Tensions between workforce planning, education and training can only be resolved if workforce and training agencies work collaboratively. All prevocational positions should be designed and structured to ensure that service, training, teaching and research are appropriately balanced. There is a need for more health education research in Australia.

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While acknowledging that cardiovascular disease prevention efforts must be complemented by societal and community-based strategies, this handbook focuses on practical strategies that can be used in clinical settings. Concise and easily accessible, it guides readers through the patient and family pathway—from patient identification, recruitment of the patient and family, assessing lifestyle and risk factors, to managing lifestyle change, reducing risk factors, and compliance with cardioprotective drug therapies. Information on how to deliver a health promotion workshop programme and run a supervised exercise programme is also included. Packed with checklists and diagrams, such as risk estimation charts, helps health workers contribute in real and practical ways to the prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Complementing the Joint European Guidelines on cardiovascular disease prevention and in line with recommendations from the European Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation, it is an invaluable source of tools and skills to assist with the delivery of effective cardiovascular disease prevention.