The impact of tobacco cessation training of medical students on their attitude towards smoking

Dear Sir

In their 2008 MPOWER Report, The World Health Organization (WHO) placed the responsibility for managing and solving the tobacco epidemic on healthcare systems (WHO 2008). Counseling by healthcare workers and availability of inexpensive pharmacologic therapy were named as two crucial interventions for tobacco cessation (WHO 2008). At the University of Michigan Medical School (UMMS), students undergo training with Standardized Patients regarding tobacco cessation counseling, while at the University of Zagreb Medical School (UZMS), students are not offered such training. In order to investigate the impact of different teaching approaches in these schools, an adjusted online version of the Global Health Professions Student Survey (GHPSS) was electronically distributed to 340 clinical year medical students at UMMS and 256 students at UZMS at an equivalent level of clinical training (Warren et al. 2011). Response rates were 37% and 40%, respectively. Subsequent data analysis revealed statistically significant differences concerning smoking habits with 23% of UZMS and only 7% of UMMS students stating that they are currently smoking. Furthermore, UZMS students reported higher second-hand smoke exposure. Greater percentage of UMMS responders believed their patients considered them as role models (97% versus 63%) and that they should routinely advise them to quit smoking (98% versus 94%). In order to create a generation of confident physicians able to accurately counsel patients, medical schools must prioritize smoking cessation in their curriculums. If there were more emphasis in Croatian medical training regarding physician influence on patient behavior, perhaps students would think more seriously about quitting in an effort to be more effective motivators for their patient's cessation.