[Level of knowledge among medical students about hypercholesterolemia]

The general practitioner plays a fundamental role in the control of hypercholesterolemia as a risk factor of atherosclerosis; therefore, education about this issue should be an important part of the undergraduate curriculum. Thus, we carried out the present study to investigate whether the curriculum in our medical schools provides the necessary knowledge to the primary care physician to carry out this function. To this end, we distributed a questionnaire to 585 medical students of different years in the Córdoba School of Medicine. Most students have a clear idea of the importance of cardiovascular disease as a cause of death. The level of knowledge about basic pathogenetic aspects of plasma lipoproteins is considerable. The students are acquainted with the adequate dietary interventions for the management of the patient with hypercholesterolemia, and they learn the advantages of consuming blue fish and olive oil. However, the level of knowledge about drug therapy is disappointing. Finally, most of them declared to be in favour of a personal approach to the prevention of atherosclerosis with diet. We conclude that the overall level of knowledge and personal approach of the students of that particular School of Medicine permits an optimistic view in the field of prevention of coronary atherosclerosis.