Alcohol-use patterns through medical school. A longitudinal study of one class

We describe the patterns of alcohol use of one medical school class assessed repeatedly over time from the first day of medical school to a point several months short of graduation. Although male students consistently drank more than their female counterparts during the preclinical years, the men reduced their alcohol intake during the clinical years to converge on the lower, more consistent intake rates of their female classmates. Over the four years of medical school, 11% of the students met criteria for excessive drinking for at least one six-month period and 18% were identified as alcohol abusers by Research Diagnostic Criteria during the first two years. More than half of the excessive drinkers met abuse criteria, whereas only one third of the alcohol abusers were also excessive drinkers. Alcohol abusers had better first-year grades and better overall scores on the National Board of Medical Examiners, part I, test than their classmates. The implications of these findings for designing and implementing alcoholism intervention/prevention programs in medical schools are discussed herein.