ABSTRACT
A review of studies on medical students and resident physicians documents the prevalence of alcohol and drug abuse, as well as symptoms of psychiatric impairment. Clinically, we know that many physicians develop drug and alcohol problems during their practice years without an earlier pattern of abuse or dependence. However, we lack longitudinal studies that could tell us whether graduate physicians who become impaired are more likely to have been alcohol or drug abusers in their undergraduate and training years. Symptoms suggestive of impairment in these early years could reasonably be expected to increase the probability of later problems, as at least one study has demonstrated (Thomas, 1971, 1976).
