NCJ Number
207891
Journal
Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy Volume: 11 Issue: 6 Dated: December 2004 Pages: 483-503
Date Published
December 2004
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This study was undertaken to determine whether the inadequacy of instruction in substance abuse in British undergraduate medical school curricula, a finding documented in two previous studies, has improved.
Abstract
All deans, heads of psychiatry, and addiction specialists working in 28 British medical schools were surveyed by questionnaire in December 2002. Questionnaire items included the time given to formal instruction, clinical resources, training objectives, professional confidence and competence, postgraduate facilities, plans for change, opinion on the importance of addiction study in the curriculum, and scientific credibility. Respectively, the response rate from specialists, heads, and deans was 100 percent, 71 percent, and 46 percent. The survey indicated that medical students were receiving, on average, 6 hours of formal instruction in substance abuse over their entire medical school curriculum. Although there was disparity in questionnaire responses among the three groups, there was a clear consensus that the addiction field of knowledge had scientific credibility; however, this knowledge base has not been significantly disseminated in medical schools. Respondents did not foresee that this would change. Barriers to training identified by respondents included too few addiction specialists, crowded curricula, and the stigma against providing medical services to drug addicts. This paper suggests ways in which medical students can become instruments of change in improving the quantity and quality of medical school instruction in substance abuse issues. 9 tables and 85 references