Undergraduate Education in Addictology of Students of General Medicine: Study Protocol of a Pilot Research Study in the Czech and Slovak Republics

BACKGROUND:

The current practice of undergraduate education in addictology for medical students at medical faculties both in and outside Europe does not meet the requirements and needs of practice. The rise in problems with legally prescribed opioids in the United States has highlighted this long-overlooked problem and has been reflected in factual debate. The opiate crisis in Europe then led to the formulation of the WHO’s priority to revise and support the teaching of addictology at medical faculties and to improve its quality. The basic problem of the present time is the question of the amount of addiction specific education in the medical curricula and their capacity.

METHODS:

The aim of the study is to map the scope and content of addictology education in the undergraduate education of students of general medicine at medical faculties in the Czech and Slovak Republics. A total of 12 medical faculties will be contacted. For data collection a questionnaire was conducted. The research file consists of text sources describing the characteristics of addictology education in the study programmes of general medicine. These are the study curricula themselves and the syllabi of the given subjects or any other relevant information. The documents will be subjected to content analysis.

DISCUSSION:

The study should have the following main implications. First, it should provide a consistent description of the situation in addictology education in medical faculties in the Czech and Slovak Republics. On the basis of the new picture, we can suggest an improvement of medical education which will lead to an increase in the competencies of physicians in the area of addiction. The research plan is supported by the student medical organization IFMSA.