The Challenge Pediatric care has become exceedingly complex, but no matter how technologically advanced treatments become, they can be only as effective as compliance with their use. Compliance, or adherence, defined as the extent to which a person's behavior coincides with medical or health advice, is crucial for the treatment of illness, the prevention of disease, and the promotion of health. Unfortunately, noncompliance is extremely common. For example, in a study of the use of penicillin for acute otitis media and "strep" throat, Charney et al1 found that only 43% of the children complied with the regimen. Gordis and associates2 found that compliance with penicillin used for chronic rheumatic fever prophylaxis was only 36%. Eney and Goldstein3 showed that compliance with theophylline in children being evaluated in an emergency department for asthma was only 11%. Compliance decreases over the course of treatment, not only for long-term interventions, but for brief ones as well. For example, Bergman and Werner4 found that 56% of individuals being treated with penicillin for streptococcal pharyngitis had stopped taking the medication by day 3, 71% by day 6, and 82% by day 9 of the treatment course. Although compliance is so important, it is largely neglected in medical education, including pediatric residency training.