Education in addiction medicine: from sensibilization to specialisation

Education in addiction medicine should be developed, it should start in the beginning of the medical curriculum, be integrated throughout and beyond in postgraduate and continuous medical education. In the French speaking part of Switzerland groups of medical practitioners, meeting since their long lasting and important implication in substitution treatments, tried to overcome part of the gaps in education in this field and contributed to the development of a local and very active network of physicians interested in addiction problems. Their experiences have helped to guide some principles for the development of a addiction medicine of quality: 1) it is essential to take addiction medicine out of the marginality; 2) substance abuse and dependences are above all within the competence of the primary care physicians and 3) improved education is not sufficient, the primary care physician should be able to count on a network of addiction specialists. The creation of an official certification, not for all general practitioners but for specialists, could stimulate the development of this network, intensify links between research and practice and favour a coherent and unified approach to addictions.