engleski

Smoking and basic medical education in Croatia

Every tenth death among adults is attributable to tobacco use in the world. Physicians play a significant role in tobacco control. The presented data is part of the Croatian pilot survey of the Global Health Professional Survey (GHPS) performed in collaboration with WHO and the CDC. GHPS collects information from 3rd year medical students on prevalence of cigarette smoking and other tobacco use, knowledge and attitudes concerning cigarette smoking, and counseling patients on tobacco cessation, and school curriculum related to the dangers of tobacco. The sample included 404 of 409 eligible third year medical students (98.5%) in all four medical schools (Zagreb, Rijeka, Osijek, Split). The current findings indicate significant tobacco use among medical students in Croatia (36.6%). Croatian medical students indicated a very high level of knowledge regarding the health effects of tobacco use (99%), were taught about the dangers of smoking in medical school (94.9%) and had heard of nicotine replacement therapies used in cessation programs (98.2%). However, only 65.1% discussed reasons why people smoke and only 14.5% reported receiving any training on specific cessation approaches. Although nearly all students heard of nicotine replacement products, very few medical students were adequately equipped to provide counseling services to their patients and only a few received any form of formal training with regards to cessation. This information underlines the need for formal education to be included in undergraduate medical education, addressing not only the health effects of tobacco consumption, but also the reasons for smoking and specialized training in cessation techniques and counselling skills.

smoking, health professional, medical education

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