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One of the best ways to reach child health care professionals is during their initial and ongoing education and training. Many residents are trained within hospital settings, where they generally encounter acute and emergency care situations. As a result, they receive little exposure to the primary and preventive care that they will encounter in a pediatric or family practice.

With its family-focused, developmental, and preventive care approach, Bright Futures is, therefore, a critical component to health care professional training and education. These materials have been used in a wide variety of pre-service and in-service education and training activities for health care professionals who work with children, adolescents, and families.

Training by States

• Colorado — Educational programs provide Bright Futures materials to health care and education professionals, especially those who work in public health nursing home visiting programs, early intervention programs, school health programs, health clinics, and primary care practices. Bright Futures materials have been used throughout the state to produce Child Growth and Development cards, which are used in anticipatory guidance activities. Bright Futures books are also used for trainings for local public health agencies in child health issues, growth and development, and physical assessment.  
• Maine – As part of the effort to adopt Bright Futures as the standard of care for MaineCare, statewide trainings have been conducted for child health providers to describe the Bright Futures philosophy and health supervision standards. Trainings also have been conducted with the state immunization program staff, which have incorporated Bright Futures into their one-on-one meetings with private providers.
• Ohio — Bright Futures materials are given out to all public health nurses. The materials are also used in providing training to field nurse consultants and nurses in local health departments.
• South Dakota — The South Dakota Department of Health has been using the Bright Futures guidelines as a reference guide, and staff are encouraged to copy information from the book for use while helping parents. Public health nurses were trained on Bright Futures during a June 2004 audio conference.

Training by Universities

• Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) – Pediatric residents at VCU Medical School have been trained in clinical applications of Bright Futures. VCU faculty members have collaborated with partners from the state’s Department of Health, AAP Chapter, and Medicaid office to develop a series of Web-based training modules based on Bright Futures and represented as individual case studies. These are targeted to pediatric, nursing, and nutrition students, family practice physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, Medicaid providers, community health providers, clinic nurses, and unlicensed assistive personnel. 
• University of Washington (UW) – The UW’s Family and Child Nursing Program developed mini-videos demonstrating the application of Bright Futures in a well-child visit. Bright Futures materials have been integrated into the curricula of the schools of Nursing, Public Health, and Medicine and in MCHB-funded training programs. Bright Futures materials also are used in nurse practitioner courses and in continuing education courses for graduate nurses. The courses demonstrate the application of Bright Futures in a well-child visit within the context of its emphasis on partnership, communication, health promotion, time management, education, and advocacy.
• Wayne State University (WSU) —  The Bright Futures Pocket Guides and other case study materials have been used to train residents. Wayne State is specifically using the pediatric cases, anticipatory guidance, and Bright Futures in Practice: Mental Health. The university’s  faculty consider the Bright Futures emphases on the medical home, the psychosocial aspects of care, and promotion of family strengths to be particularly important components of the training.

Training in Practice Settings

• Indiana — A pediatrician relied on Bright Futures materials in her initial training and now uses them in teaching other health care professionals who are beginning their careers. Bright Future’s succinct format and focus on the family’s perspective on well-child care are key reasons why this health care professional uses them in teaching.
• Ohio — A dentist who works with diverse populations of children in his hospital-based practice has adapted Bright Futures anticipatory guidance materials for his patients and has used Bright Futures principles to train residents and dental students in his practice.
• Minnesota — A nonprofit organization uses Bright Futures to teach graduate students and resident fellows in adolescent medicine.
• Wisconsin — A pediatrician uses Bright Futures materials to plan what he will discuss with families during visits. He also uses Bright Futures to teach medical students and residents, especially in teaching them how to evaluate problems and how to prioritize which questions to ask parents and children.