Medical education about the care of addicted incarcerated persons: A national survey of residency programs

In June 1998, there were 1.8 million inmates in correctional facilities for adults; 1.2 million in state and federal prisons and 600,000 in municipal/county jails (668 persons per 100,000 U.S. population). Rates of TB, AIDS, mental illness, and substance abuse are 2–13 times higher in persons living in jails and prisons. This study was designed to assess the level of training offered to residents in seven medical specialties in the care of addicted incarcerated persons. The study design involved two stages. The first entailed a mailed survey to 1,831 residency directors in family medicine, internal medicine, osteopathic medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, and emergency medicine. The second stage was a telephone interview, about substance use disorders, of faculty listed by the residency directors as teaching residents. The mailed survey was completed by 1,205 residency directors (66%). The 769 faculty from those identified programs, who participated in the telephone interview, reported that only 14% of their residency programs offered lectures or conferences on the care of incarcerated persons, yet 44% of the programs had residents caring for incarcerated persons with substance abuse problems, in a clinical setting. Only 22% offered clinical experiences for residents in a correctional facility.

We recognize that our survey of correctional health and substance abuse training is limited, but as such, a greater number of respondents to our survey do not teach residents addiction medicine topics pertaining to prevention, evaluation, intervention, and management of the addicted criminal offender/patient in a correctional setting or give adequate clinical exposure to this special population. The data suggests a need to develop and implement educational programs on medical care for this high‐risk and expanding population.