Quitting smoking after a heart attack
PEBC OSCE practice station
Counselling & explanation · 2 min to read · 7 min to perform
Assess his readiness and history, recommend options that suit him, and counsel him on how to proceed and follow up.
Dmitri VolkovI had a heart attack earlier this year and I'm still smoking. My wife is on my back. What can I take to quit?
Free · no sign-up · uses your one free station
Open the full station (charts, voice, result letter) →The task
You are a pharmacist in a community pharmacy. Mr Dmitri Volkov, aged 61, had a heart attack eight months ago and takes medicines for it. He smokes about a pack a day and has come in to ask about quitting. He is alone. Assess his readiness and history, recommend options that suit him, and counsel him on how to proceed and follow up. The assessor will not take part in the conversation.
What this station tests
- Assess dependence and past attempts, not just motivation.
- Combination nicotine replacement is safe in stable heart disease and more effective than single products.
- Explain other options and involve the prescriber when needed.
- Solve the specific reason a past attempt failed.
- Set a quit date and follow-up; treat slips as part of quitting.
Sources for the clinical content
- Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care: Tobacco smoking in adults (2025)
- Zyban (bupropion) Canadian product monograph
- Health Canada statement naming the pan-Canadian quitline, May 2024
An original practice scenario with invented patients. Not an exam question.