Medical Student Substance Abuse Intervention: A Case Report and Literature Review

Abstract

Alcohol and drug abuse and addiction among medical students have been reported extensively. This is an important topic because substance abuse can lead to impairment, which affects the well-being of many, including medical students, and because it compromises physician competency. Education and clinical training regarding substance use disorders (SUDS) has been severely neglected, especially in relation to their incidence, not only among health professionals but also among patients. Students know little about SUDS and little regarding identifying a colleague in trouble. This article presents a case of a peer medical student intervention with a successful outcome as a proximate result of a brief educational program for medical students and argues for more education regarding SUDS, professional impairment, and how to deal with a peer who has a problem. To our knowledge, peer medical student intervention for a fellow student addicted to alcohol or drugs has never been reported in the English language.