Information and experience with cleft palate: students, parents, professionals.

More than 1,200 students, parents, and professionals completed a questionnaire designed to assess knowledge and experience with cleft palate. Professionals knew more about cleft palate and had had more experience with it than either parents or students. Parents, however, knew more about cleft palate and had had more experience with it than had students. There was also an apparent relationship between knowledge and experience because those who knew more about cleft palate had also had more experience and training. The results reemphasize the need for pre-professional and continuing-education programs.