Tobacco Prevention/Cessation Education: Medical Students

Grants and Contracts Details

Description

Tobacco use causes about one of every five deaths in the United States and is the single most preventable cause of death and disease in our nation (1). At least 70% of smokers visit a physician each year, but most are not advised or assisted in any attempt to quit (2). While more than 90% of childr~n visit a pediatrician annually, little is known about the prevalence of smoking prevention counseling (3). Few practicing physicians are prepared to prevent smoking or help patients stop smoking and a majority of medical school graduates are not adequately trained to counselfamilies, treat nicotine dependence, or minimize smoking initiation among youth (4). The lack of a tobacco control curriculum in medical schools is now a well.recognized deficit (5). At Boston University, students graduating in the past three years have received at least nine new hours of tobacco control curriculum, interwoven into major preclinical and clinical courses. Boston University's effort follows successful integration of tobacco curricula at the University of Massachusetts (since 1990). Other universities have recently begun tobacco control education with many opportunities to implement and evaluate new curriculum in multiple contexts. In this project, 12 medical schools from throughout the United States (including Boston University)(see letters of support), with a wide range of depth and breadth of tobacco curricula, will develop, refine, and integrate new modules, train medical school faculty, evaluate teaching content, assess opportunities for diffusion, and disseminate Resource Guidesff 001 Kits to multiple universities. We anticipate that exemplary universities of tobacco teaching can be developed to serve as regional and national role models. We are aided in this effort by national representatives of major primary care practice organizations, preventive health specialists, medical student organizations, and cancer control advocates (see letters of support). With expertise in medical student education, curriculum development, faculty training, and evaluation for tobacco prevention and cessation, TP ACEMS has the following speC1fic aims: Aim 1-Assess current curriculum and organize and convene a national conference Aim 2-Develop new modules, plans for Integration, and conduct faculty training Alm3.Conduct trial implementation Aim 4-Conduct a comprehensive, formative, process and impact evaluation Aim 5-Disseminate Resource GuideslTool Kits to other medical schools At the end of this five.year grant, we anticipate that tobacco education modules will be succassfully incorporated into a number of US medical schools and graduating students at these schools will be able to skillfully perform tobacco prevention and cessation counseling for children, adolescents, and adults.
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date7/26/026/30/07

Funding

  • Boston University: $32,000.00

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