The attitude of sixth year students of the Faculty of Medicine towards the problem of addiction to nicotine

: According to the guidelines of the National Health Program, assumed by the Polish Ministry of Health for the years 1996 - 2005, it could be expected that, particularly at medical universities, education of future doctors in the field of problems connected to addiction to nicotine is taken into consideration. However, the research conducted in the form of anonymous survey among the sixth year students of the Faculty of Medicine at the Medical University of Bialystok in the academic years 2001/2002 and 2004/2005 does not corroborate those expectations. The survey proves that the future graduates' knowledge of the aforementioned topic is fragmentary and confirms the necessity of including that issue in the educational curriculum in the area of family medicine.