St George’s Medical School (University of London) and the SSA produced a user-friendly set of factsheets to help integrate knowledge of substance use into the undergraduate medical curriculum. This factsheet examines medications used in the treatment of drug, alcohol, and nicotine dependence. After reading the factsheet, medical students will:
- understand the pharmacological basis of medications used to manage dependence
- recognise how pharmacological agents are used to treat drug and alcohol dependence
- understand that different medications are needed in the different phases of the addiction cycle
- describe the medications commonly prescribed in opioid and alcohol dependence
