well, i received so many emails on this topic, i definitely had to write a post and open up the forum for your comments…

from the MUA Catalog:

The University has a zero tolerance policy on drug use (including distribution and possession) and excessive alcohol use while enrolled at Medical University of the Americas. Drug use is determined on-site by testing, random or otherwise, with a multi-drug screening kit. All students prior to coming to Nevis will be expected to sign a waiver allowing random drug testing. In the event of a specific complaint about a student, the test will not be random (Refer to the Student Handbook for policy details).

yes, every single person in the MED 3 class was filed into a bathroom with the door slightly ajar yesterday (girls separate from boys, obviously) and instructed to pee into a cup. 60 to 90 seconds later, we headed back to class and that was it. no big deal, right?

or is it?

drug testing is extremely common in Caribbean medical schools. Saba has an even more rigorous process than MUA where some students have the potential to be (randomly) chosen several times each semester. i have no idea if drug testing infringes on our rights or is unethical or immoral. i guess as someone that has “nothing to hide”, i never really gave it much thought.

does MUA have a professional responsibility to ensure that the students they are promoting into the field of medicine are “responsible” drug-free upstanding young citizens? is it a good idea that they are trying to avoid putting people with potentially dangerous addictive substance abuse problems in a profession so close to, well, more drugs? my sister is training to be a pilot, a field with ZERO drug tolerance. why should medicine be any different?

from “Drug abuse among medical students” in the Student BMJ:

Binge drinking and drug abuse in doctors and medical students have always been an occupational hazard, but drug abuse is undergoing a rapid renaissance. Medical students are exposed to the same illicit experiences as other students: exposure to amphetamines, cannabis, ecstasy, LSD, cocaine, and in some cases heroin – not to mention alcohol and tobacco. But medical students are future doctors. Maladaptive coping skills are hard to shake off, and at the moment there is a small, but ever increasing population of junior doctors who use cannabis, amphetamines, cocaine, alcohol, and tobacco recreationally, and as these doctors become more senior, this misuse could begin to present as a sizeable problem.

Dependence on alcohol and other drugs is a known problem among doctors – to what extent the professional competence and quality of care for patients will be affected is not known.

Several calls for the random drug testing of doctors have been made; it is possibly quite laughable that with such drug-wielding power no protocol for testing has been established. Pilots, train drivers, and many others undergo drug testing routinely; yet the “responsible irresponsible” have escaped. My personal concern is that drug abuse has become irreversibly intertwined with youth culture and that there will be a flooding of the medical profession with young doctors who are consistently misusing drugs. It can take one event to shatter the public trust in young doctors and shake the foundation of the entire profession.

what are your thoughts?