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 substance use among cardiology patients. After reading the factsheet, medical students will be able to:
- recognise the multiple cardiac symptoms associated with the use of alcohol, tobacco, opiates, stimulants, and other substances
- appreciate the need for a comprehensive substance use history in all patients presenting with cardiac symptoms
- recognise life-threatening cardiac medical emergencies that may be related to substance use
- appreciate that substance use treatment with pharmacological agents might have adverse effects on the cardiovascular system
- understand that management of the medical condition may only be optimal if patients are supported to seek treatment for their substance problems
