Smoking cessation education and training in U.K. medical schools: a national survey

Smoking cessation is one of the most cost-effective of all health interventions. Physicians are in a strong position to encourage smokers to make a quit attempt and to help them achieve long-term abstinence. Formal teaching on tobacco-related disease, the evidence base of smoking cessation, and practical skills training regarding cessation advice and counseling are therefore important parts of undergraduate medical education. A survey of U.K. medical schools conducted 11 years ago revealed substantial deficits in the curricular coverage of these topics. This study aimed at establishing whether the situation has improved since then.

In 2013, all U.K. medical schools were invited to participate in an online survey of their curricular coverage of tobacco addiction and smoking cessation.

Of the 33 medical schools, 22 (67%) schools responded. Health effects of smoking were addressed in more than 90% of curricula, and factual knowledge on nicotine addiction and withdrawal symptoms was covered in 50% of curricula. Only 1 in 3 medical schools offered practical skills training in artificial (i.e., role play) or clinical settings, and 50% of schools did not address smoking in summative assessments.

Practical skills training regarding cessation counseling is insufficient at most U.K. medical schools and may have become worse during the last 11 years. Increased curricular coverage-including summative assessments-of these topics would ensure that future physicians are adequately equipped to encourage and support effective evidence-based quit attempts in their patients.