title: Substance Misuse Education for Physicians: Why Older People are Important.
abstract: This perspective article focuses on the need for training and education for undergraduate medical students on substance-related disorders, and describes initiatives undertaken in the United Kingdom (UK), Netherlands, United States (US), and Norway to develop the skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed by future doctors to treat patients adequately. In addition, we stress that in postgraduate training, further steps should be taken to develop Addiction Medicine as a specialized and transverse medical domain. Alcohol use disorder is a growing public health problem in the geriatric population, and one that is likely to continue to increase as the baby boomer generation ages. Prescription drug misuse is a major concern, and nicotine misuse remains problematic in a substantial minority. Thus, Addiction Medicine training should address the problems for this specific population. In recent years, several countries have started an Addiction Medicine specialty. Although addiction psychiatry has been a subspecialty in the UK and US for more than 20 years, in most countries it has been a more recent development. Additional courses on addiction should be integrated into the curriculum at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as well as form part of the continuous training of other medical specialists. It is recommended that further research and mapping of what is currently taught in medical programs be undertaken, so as to enhance medical education in addiction and improve treatment services.
authors: Behavioural Science Institute, Nijmegen Institute for Scientist-Practitioners in Addiction (NISPA), Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors: Cornelis A J
authors: CA
authors: De Jong
authors: St. George's University of London, United Kingdom.
authors: Christine
authors: C
authors: Goodair
authors: Visiting professor, St. George's University of London, and emeritus professor, Keele University, United Kingdom.
authors: Ilana
authors: I
authors: Crome
authors: Kaunas Addiction Treatment Centre and Lithuanian University of Health Sciences;
authors: Darius
authors: D
authors: Jokubonis
authors: University of Calgary, Canada.
authors: Nady
authors: N
authors: El-Guebaly
authors: Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute (CAPRI), Antwerp University (UA), Belgium.
authors: Geert
authors: G
authors: Dom
authors: Radboud University Medical Centre, Department of Psychiatry, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors: Arnt
authors: A
authors: Schellekens
authors: Unit for Dependencies in Primary Care, Department of Community Health and Primary Care, Geneva University Hospitals, Switzerland.
authors: Barbara
authors: B
authors: Broers
authors: Medical faculty of Vilnius University, Lithuania.
authors: Emilis
authors: E
authors: Subata
authors: Norwegian Directorate of Health, Norway.
authors: Gabrielle Katrine
authors: GK
authors: Welle-Strand
authors: Radboud Centrum Sociale Wetenschappen, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors: Lonneke
authors: L
authors: Luycks
authors: Specialist in Addiction Medicine, TACTUS Addiction Care, Deventer, The Netherlands.
authors: Michel
authors: M
authors: Wolters
authors: Specialist in Addiction Medicine, Vincent van Gogh Institute for Mental Health, Venlo, The Netherlands.
authors: Tamara
authors: T
authors: Schoof
mesh_terms: D016739:Behavior, Addictive; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D006801:Humans; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Addiction Medicine; addiction psychiatry; medical education; substance-related disorders