The study of intoxicant use and misuse in psychological and medical education: A basic curriculum.

Discusses factors responsible for the previous neglect of substance abuse by health care professions and describes changes that have made it possible to include this field in clinical education and training. Various factors contributed to the neglect of substance abuse, including the social, psychological, and political distance between clinicians and those with intoxicant problems; the disruptive impact of early psychoanalytic thinking; and clinicians' lack of faith in the efficacy of treatment. As a more treatment-oriented group developed intoxicant problems, treatment facilities and techniques improved, leading to a greater optimism about outcome among clinicians. These and other changes make further education in this field feasible and desirable. A sample curriculum is presented for a full year's course of 26 2-hr seminars on this topic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)