‘We All Try to Imagine What It's Like for Someone to Be Dependent’: Attitudes Towards Drug Users Among Medical Students in the United Kingdom and Its Impact on Their Professional Identity Formation

BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests that some doctors and medical students hold stigmatising attitudes towards drug users. This area remains underexplored in the United Kingdom (UK), and current medical students' attitudes to drug users are unknown. AIMS: This study aimed to explore the UK medical students' attitudes towards drug use, factors influencing these attitudes and their impact on professional identity formation. METHODS: A mixed methods study used a questionnaire and interviews in two UK medical schools. RESULTS: Data were collected from 62 questionnaires and 12 interviews. Most UK medical students (71.0%, n = 44) viewed addiction as a chronic health condition and supported providing optimal care (91.8%, n = 56). However, support for funding addiction services declined during training (100%-60%), reflecting growing stigma. Prolonged heroin (90.2%, n = 55) and cocaine use (88.6%, n = 54) were widely viewed as unacceptable, while responses regarding party drugs and methadone were mixed. Students' attitudes towards drug users were shaped by media, upbringing, peers, direct interactions with drug users and doctors' role modelling. These influences generally supported professional identity formation, although challenges remained. Related university teaching was widely perceived as insufficient, with reliance on hidden and informal curricula. CONCLUSION: While most medical students hold positive attitudes towards drug users, stigmatising views emerge during training, with declining support for treatment funding and worsening attitudes with seniority. Students' professional identity formation is shaped more by clinical encounters and role models than formal teaching. Current overreliance on hidden curricula creates inequitable learning experiences. These findings call for structured, interprofessional team-based training to ensure compassionate, evidence-based care for this vulnerable population.