Correspondence: Karen S. Hudmon, DrPH, MS, RPh

1. % who perceive this topic to be adequately covered 56.3 44.4 38.0 25.0 52.6 36.7 6.3 11.4 32.9 22.5 1.3 8.9 Nationwide Dissemination of a Tobacco Curriculum for Health Professional Students Karen S. Hudmon,1 Robin L. Corelli,2 Christine M. Fenlon,1 Lisa Kroon,2 Kenneth Lem,2 Janie Heath3 1Yale University School of Medicine, 2University of California San Francisco School of Pharmacy; 3Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies Table 1. Components of the Rx for Change program RESULTS, cont’d BACKGROUND • Fig 2 summarizes program dissemination to date. Ninety percent of the 83 targeted pharmacy schools participated in a train-the-trainer session in the first year; of these, 66% have already implemented the Rx for Change program, reaching an estimated 5,046 pharmacy students. In the upcoming year, we are targeting the remaining 16 schools of pharmacy (this number includes new schools, established in the past 1-2 years). • 35 nursing schools have been trained to date; we anticipate that an additional 50 will be trained in Summer 2004. • Research consistently shows that students in the health professions receive inadequate training for assisting patients with tobacco cessation. In response to this need, the California schools of pharmacy collaborated to develop Rx for Change: Clinician-Assisted Tobacco Cessation, a comprehensive tobacco curriculum for health professional students. • Rx for Change was created as a turn-key program with a vision for dissemination both within and outside of the pharmacy profession. Rx for Change Program Materials • Rx for Change is composed of a series of modules (Table 1). Implementation of the core modules requires a minimum of 6 hrs, which includes hands-on experience with aids for cessation and role-playing.Pre- and post-training surveys, collected from nearly 600 students in California, revealed a positive impact of the program on self-rated ability (p<0.001 for each of the 5 A’s) and self-efficacy (p<0.001) for cessation counseling. When asked if they thought that students at other schools of pharmacy would benefit from receiving the same or a similar program, 99.2% responded “Yes.” • In addition to materials for teaching students, Rx for Change provides materials that can be used in implementing continuing education programs for licensed clinicians and a tobacco prevention lecture for use in middle schools. FIG 2— Rx for Change: Program dissemination to date. RESULTS These numbers include FORMAL TRAINING of faculty from: 75 pharmacy schools 35 nursing schools 2 dental schools 1 medical school • Our survey of pharmacy school curricula (n =82; 98.8% response) revealed a median of 170 minutes of tobacco education throughout the doctor of pharmacy program. Fig 1 depicts the coverage of various topics and faculty perceptions of its adequacy. # of individuals to whom Rx for Change program materials have been disseminated FIG 1—Baseline survey: Perceived importance of tobacco topics as part of required coursework for pharmacy students (n = 82). METHODS CONCLUSIONS • Pharmacy faculty believe that tobacco content is an important part of the pharmacy school curricula; however, they perceive it to be inadequately addressed in their current curricula. • Availability of materials and tools for implementation of the Rx for Change curriculum has generated much interest and participation. Benefits of a shared, national program are that (a) all teaching and learning materials are maintained at a central location and are updated continually to reflect new information, (b) resource sharing eliminates the need for each school to develop its own materials, and (c) the materials benefit from the collective feedback of knowledge and wisdom from all faculty who adopt the program. • To estimate the extent of tobacco education in U.S. pharmacy schools, we conducted a national survey at baseline, prior to dissemination. One faculty member identified previously as being responsible for providing tobacco-related education at each of the 83 U.S. schools of pharmacy completed a 6-page self-administered questionnaire. The survey characterized and quantified the tobacco-related curricular content, as well as faculty perceptions regarding its adequacy. • With funding from the National Cancer Institute, Rx for Change is being disseminated to all U.S. schools of pharmacy. In addition, with funding from the American Legacy Foundation (to Georgetown University, J Heath, PI), the program is being disseminated to nursing schools. • Faculty from our target schools attend a 2-day train-the-trainer program, at which they receive the necessary knowledge, skills, and materials to implement the Rx for Change program. • With the imminent launching of our Rx for Change web-site (http://rxforchange.ucsf.edu), the program materials will become more widely available, for use by both educators and licensed clinicians. Correspondence: Karen S. Hudmon, DrPH, MS, RPh Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine 60 College Street, 4th Floor, New Haven, CT 06473 E-mail: karen.hudmon@yale.edu; telephone: 203.785.7367 Sponsored by the National Cancer Institute grant R25 CA 90720. Percent