Introduction

Abstract

As I have emphasized in previous supplements, Florida is the fourth largest state in the United States of America. The programme for care of children with congenital cardiac malformations at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is one of the largest, and most prestigious and comprehensive in the world. The Congenital Heart Institute of Florida is the largest programme providing services for patients with congenital cardiac disease in Florida. “Heart Week in Florida”, the joint collaborative project sponsored by the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia together with the Congenital Heart Institute of Florida, has now become recognized as one of the major planks of continuing medical and nursing education for those working in the fields of diagnosis and treatment of heart disease in neonates, infants, children, and young adults. In 2006, however, we broke from our previous mould, since the component of our “week” organized by the group from Philadelphia was organized in Phoenix, Arizona, thanks to the support provided by our colleagues working at Children's Hospital in Phoenix. It was a huge success, diminished only slightly by the inclement weather facing those who needed to journey back from sunny Arizona and Florida to the frozen and snowy northeast coast of the United States. All institutions involved with the organization of the events of 2006, nonetheless, are very grateful to Bob Anderson, and the team at Cardiology in the Young, for their support of “Heart Week in Florida”, and for the opportunity to publish this Supplement.