Antibiotic abuse: the testimony of medical students.

Surveys of the use of antimicrobial drugs on students during antimicrobial drugs on students during their first 15 months in medical or dental school indicate that they have been treated with these agents at least three times as frequently as seems reasonable, and that the tetracyclines, ampicillin, penicillin G and erythromycin are the chief drugs overused. Antimicrobiol therapy is frequently instituted for probable viral respiratory tract infections and without any attempt to establish a bacteriologic diagnosis. It is likely that anitmicrobiol agents are used more widely in treating the general public in Canada than in treating medical students. Improvements in the rational use of this important group of drugs could increase the quality and probably reduced the cost of medical care.