Abstract
BackgroundOver 12,000 hospital admissions in the UK result from substance misuse, therefore issues surrounding this need to be addressed early on in a doctor’s training to facilitate their interaction with this client group. Currently, undergraduate medical education includes teaching substance misuse issues, yet how this is formally integrated into the curriculum remains unclear.MethodsSemi-structured interviews with 17 key members of staff responsible for the whole or part of the undergraduate medical curriculum were conducted to identify the methods used to teach substance misuse. Using a previously devised toolkit, 19 curriculum co-ordinators then mapped the actual teaching sessions that addressed substance misuse learning objectives.ResultsSubstance misuse teaching was delivered primarily in psychiatry modules but learning objectives were also found in other areas such as primary care placements and problem-based learning. On average, 53 teaching sessions per medical school focused on bio-psycho-social models of addiction whereas only 23 sessions per medical school focused on professionalism, fitness to practice and students’ own health in relation to substance misuse. Many sessions addressed specific learning objectives relating to the clinical features of substance dependence whereas few focused on iatrogenic addiction.ConclusionsSubstance misuse teaching is now inter-disciplinary and the frequent focus on clinical, psychological and social effects of substance misuse emphasises the bio-psycho-social approach underlying clinical practice. Some areas however are not frequently taught in the formal curriculum and these need to be addressed in future changes to medical education.
Highlights
Over 12,000 hospital admissions in the UK result from substance misuse, issues surrounding this need to be addressed early on in a doctor’s training to facilitate their interaction with this client group
Primary care and general practice attachments were mentioned by nine participants as being one area where students received substance misuse teaching, and crossyear teaching such as communication skills, problembased learning (PBL), and community based medicine (n = 9) were reported to provide substance misuse learning objectives
One participant described how nearly one-third of special study components (SSC) topics offered in their curriculum were related to substance misuse, suggesting variation amongst medical schools concerning the number of substance misuse SSCs
Summary
Over 12,000 hospital admissions in the UK result from substance misuse, issues surrounding this need to be addressed early on in a doctor’s training to facilitate their interaction with this client group. Children as young as 11 years of age are smoking, drinking alcohol or taking drugs [2] The impact this has on healthcare systems is profound; 12,344 reported hospital admissions in England were the result of drug poisoning with drug-related mental health and behavioural disorders featuring in hospital admissions [1]. General practitioners (GP) are often amongst the first health professionals to diagnose people with a substance misuse problem, yet these discussions between patient and GP often focus primarily on tobacco and alcohol use and can often be difficult for both participants to discuss [4]. Substance misuse can have an impact on doctors’ fitness to continue practising in clinical environments Addressing these issues at an early stage of medical training is essential
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