The Trouble with Training: substance misuse education in British medical schools revisited. What are the issues?

My 1987 survey of substance misuse education in British medical schools highlighted inadequacies in the quality of undergraduatesubstance misuse training. The continuing difficulty in engaging generalists in the care of substance misusers suggested it was time to revisit the issue. Deans, Heads of D...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Drugs : education, prevention & policy prevention & policy, 1999-03, Vol.6 (1), p.111-123
Main Author: CROME, ILANA B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accidents
Assessment
Child Health
Community Relations
Deans
Departments
Drug abuse
Education
Educational Opportunities
Feedback (Response)
Geriatrics
Integrated Services
Lecture Method
Medical Education
Medical Schools
Medical Students
Pharmacology
Physicians
Physiology
Policy Formation
Primary Health Care
Professional Training
Psychiatry
Public Health
Questionnaires
Response Rates (Questionnaires)
Undergraduate Study
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Summary:My 1987 survey of substance misuse education in British medical schools highlighted inadequacies in the quality of undergraduatesubstance misuse training. The continuing difficulty in engaging generalists in the care of substance misusers suggested it was time to revisit the issue. Deans, Heads of Departmentsof Psychiatry and 13 other specialities in 23 medical schools were surveyed. The response rate from Deans and Heads of Psychiatry was 70%. Psychiatry provided a mean of 6.7 (range 2-14) hours formal training (lectures/seminars),excluding one model department which provided 30 hours and co-ordinated an additional 30 hours of undergraduate substance misuse education. In 10 (45.5%) schools training is very limited, while 10 (45.5%) schools provide average (three) or above average (seven) training hours. Average or above average undergraduate training was found in schools with an academic department of addiction behaviour. These centres were associated with the most comprehensiveservices and the most postgraduate substance misuse training opportunities. These findings may partially explain why most doctors are ill-equipped to deal with substance problems. Since 1987, psychiatry has doubled input, but this is offset by diminished input from other departments. The establishment of academic departments of addiction studies in medical schools would influence decision making within university and services, promote scientific credibility and benefit communities.
ISSN:0968-7637
1465-3370
DOI:10.1080/09687639997331