Joshua G Schkrohowsky and Dr. Gordon Lindsay, Health Sciences

After years of steady decline, the percentage of people who use tobacco in the United States has leveled off and has appeared to even begin an increase. Cigarette smoking remains the single largest cause of preventable death in the United States. It is not only a problem within the States but also worldwide to the extent that the World Health Organization has declared tobacco issues a top priority. An estimated 500 million people a year, living today, will eventually die of tobacco-related mortality. What can be done to prevent this horrible monstrosity?

There is no simple answer, yet a conglomerate of many efforts. C. Everett Koop stated that “the single most effective way to reduce smoking in the country is for physicians to give clear, direct advice to their patients.” Primary care physicians have the potential of playing a major role in the control of tobacco use in this country. This project has been designed to evaluate the attitudes, knowledge, and beliefs of future physicians regarding smoking cessation and their role as patient counselors.

The project went under way back in October of 2001. Contacts were set up with professors, Dr. David McDowell, at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Dr. Rosalyn Scott, at UCLA-Drew School of Medicine. For the past several months Dr. McDowell and the researcher have been working on pushing the proposal through the IRB process at Columbia. After several drafts and revisions the proposal is again currently under review. The project has been given IRB# 4395 at Columbia. Dr. Scott and her staff have been working on the approval at UCLA-Drew and the proposal is again in the review process.

Fortunately IRB approval was given at Vanderbilt School of Medicine in July. The administration of the survey among their medical students is on hold till the students return from summer leave. The IRB# at Vanderbilt is 02-0404.

The comparative data has been obtained from the Ukrainian medical institutions and will be included in the final report.

The project will continue and will be incorporated into the researcher’s studies while at Johns Hopkins University – School of Public Health.