Effects of a Skills-Based Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) Curriculum on Medical Student Attitudes Towards Substance Use Disorders: A Medical Student’s Perspective [Letter]

Bethan Bishop, Neel Badiani Faculty of Medicine, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, UKCorrespondence: Bethan Bishop Tel +447923286288Email b.c.bishop@smd15.qmul.ac.uk Dear editorWe read with great interest the paper by Kidd et al1 investigating medical studentattitudes towards substance use disorders (SUDs) before and after completing anEnhanced Pre-Clinical Skills-Based Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral toTreatment (SBIRT) Curriculum. This is an extremely relevant issue given the highprevalence of substance misuse and the potential for stigmatisation by healthcareprofessionals to lead to subpar care.2 The findings suggest that pre-clinical educationalinitiatives may promote positive attitudes towards SUDs in some domains butare less effective in others, particularly with regards to beliefs about the burden ofSUD patients on healthcare systems. However, the study had several limitations andthere is a lack of data on the long-term effectiveness of this early educationalintervention. View the original paper by Kidd and colleagues