No Residency / Fellowship at Cleveland Clinic For Smokers

...Which makes me take a brief trip down my memory lane to my med school days when I was often amused to see some medical students smoking away in hiding and urging me to 'not tell others' :-) , especially during stressful late-night emergency rotations. Various Studies done in the past to reveal smoking habits amongst physicians have shown a big variety of results like:

- Psychiatrists show the highest smoking rates in U.S. while it was the Radiologists in Israel
- Physicians smoked more than dentists while Surgeons smoked more than Internists and Physicians smoked less than Nurses etc. etc. - Check out this Good compilation of studies which was recently put on the British Medical Journal

And not long ago, at a VA hospital we came across a patient who smoked since he was 8 years old because his mom told him that was a good treatment for his heartburn ! :-( :-(

Anyways.. Here's what the new Non-Smoking Hiring Policy at Cleveland Clinic Reads:


Cleveland Clinic has recently implemented a nonsmoking hiring policy requiring all job applicants and individuals receiving appointments to take a cotinine test (nicotine metabolite) during their pre-placement physical exam (health screening). This is a pre-employment test only. The cotinine test will detect the presence of nicotine in all forms of tobacco.

Beginning September 1, 2007, appointments that have been offered to prospective residents and fellows who test positive will be rescinded. Individuals who test positive will receive a referral to a tobacco cessation program paid for by Cleveland Clinic. Those individuals testing positive that test negative after 90 days may be reconsidered for appointment at the discretion of the training program director should the residency/fellowship position remain vacant.




Thus we could almost recommend a Cleveland Clinic Residency for medical students who need help giving up smoking ;-)

The policy was mentioned on their instructions Brochure for Newly appointed Residents and Fellows at the Cleveland Clinic - which makes a good read for IMGs who wish to know about the tasks that need to be completed just before a residency begins on 1st July. Download Brochure Here [PDF]

I wonder how many other residency programs have followed suit....


Also Read:

- The Days When Physicians Promoted Smoking ;-)
- NicoDerm : Skin Patches to Help you Quit Smoking