Medical professionals’ negative attitudes to illicit drug use can act as a barrier to people accessing medical care as well as the execution of best practice medicine. Diagnosis and treatment for drug dependency can be considered peripheral to or outside of other medical matters. Patients who use illicit drugs are often stereotyped as difficult, uncooperative, and non-compliant. Misgivings about the effectiveness of drug treatment or the willingness of people to engage in health care can also discourage therapeutic engagement and referral. Although physicians can also be consumers of legal and illegal drugs many do not feel competent to treat alcohol- and other drug-related issues. Such negative attitudes among health care professionals can reduce optimal detection and management of patients with drug use problems as well as contribute to the shortage of specialists in the field. 

The aim of this project is to conduct a longitudinal survey to measure ANU medical students’ attitudes to, experiences of and intentions to participate in drug use-related health care. The study has been run since 2014.