Tobacco Dependence Curricula in US Undergraduate Medical Education

Abstract

Tobacco use, the leading cause of preventable death and disability in the United States, accounts for nearly a half million premature deaths per year.¹ Although 70% of smokers visit a physician each year, most are not advised or assisted in an attempt to quit.² A 1991 survey showed that only 21% of practicing physicians felt that their formal medical training prepared them to help patients stop smoking.³