Objectives: In considering whether smoking cessation training programs are necessary in pharmacy education, this study was conducted to assess the prevalence of smoking cessation training and practice programs at hospitals and community pharmacies.

Method: Questionnaires were distributed to 483 fifth-year student pharmacists enrolled in a school of pharmacy. They were asked about: 1) their smoking cessation training; 2) opportunities to observe pharmacists providing counselling on smoking cessation; and 3) opportunities to learn about smoking-related diseases during hospital and community pharmacy clerkships.

Results: A total of 399 (response rate: 82.6%) students responded to the questionnaire. Although 78.4% of those at hospitals and 66.2% at community pharmacies reported asking patients about their tobacco use, only 12.8% and 12.0% , respectively, recommended quitting smoking. The students also reported little opportunity to observe smoking cessation intervention by pharmacists at hospitals (17.0%) or community pharmacies (18.8%). Compared with students who did not learn smoking cessation counselling, opportunities to observe pharmacists provide counselling on smoking cessation and possibilities to learn smoking-related diseases were considerably higher among students who received instruction during hospital and pharmacy clerkships.

Conclusions: The results suggest that pharmacy education in Japan should incorporate comprehensive smoking cessation training programs as a cornerstone of pharmacists’ patient care.

Residents graduated from Nagasaki University marked significant lower score of KTSND than those who graduated from other universities. This study suggested that education about nicotine dependency during medical student days affects the social nicotine dependence in the future. Therefore, we should include the education about nicotine dependence in the education program of medical students.