Medical School Hotline: Tobacco dependence and the management of tobacco-related disorders: how John A. Burns School of Medicine is preparing our future physicians.

Tobacco use is the most significant modifiable risk factor leading to mortality, accounting for over 18% of total deaths in the United States.1 Both the National Cancer Institute and the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research have recommended that all medical schools incorporate curriculum addressing smoking cessation and tobacco prevention strategies.2 A survey published in 1999 showed that approximately 69% of medical schools did not require any clinical experience in smoking cessation, and the remaining 31% of schools averaged less than one hour of smoking cessation/tobacco prevention education across all four years of medical school.2 Despite curricular improvements, training still remains suboptimal at many institutions.3–5 In contrast, at the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM), future doctors are prepared to address the spectrum of tobacco problems, from educating Hawai‘i's youth regarding the dangers of tobacco use and promoting prevention, to helping their patients with tobacco dependence, and treating the complications of long term tobacco use. These content areas are present throughout the curriculum in the form of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) cases, lectures, standardized patient encounters, clinical experiences, and community outreach programs.