Physicians who use substances: what does it look like and what to do about it?

Abstract

Substance use disorders in physicians is a serious problem of the medical community and public health. The prevalence of substance use disorders depends on gender, age and medical specialty. The substance abuse impairs physical and mental health of physicians and affects the quality of patient care. Treatment of chemically addicted physicians involves the use of conventional therapeutic approaches adopted in addiction medicine, but requires compliance with certain special principles.