DRINKING HABITS OF MEDICAL STUDENTS CALL FOR BETTER INTEGRATION OF TEACHING ABOUT ALCOHOL INTO THE MEDICAL CURRICULUM

A study was conducted with medical students to observe theirdrinking habits and alcohol misuse. The students completed questionnairescomposed of AUDIT and SMAST questions. A significant proportion(33%) of students drank more than the recommended safe limitand screened positive at the AUDIT cut-off score of 11. Thehigh scores of DSM-III criterion questions indicate that problemdrinking on college campuses continues to be a significant publichealth concern. Our opinion is that prevention of alcohol misuseshould be started at medical universities. The medical schoolcurriculum must integrate education about alcohol. First theattitude of medical professionals should be changed so thatwe can achieve results in alcohol misuse prevention in societyas a whole.