Substance abuse : official publication of the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse
-
Many screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) training curricula have been implemented within graduate medical residency training programs, with varying degrees of success. The authors examined the implementation of a uniform, but adaptable, statewide SBIRT curriculum in 7 diverse residency training programs and whether it could improve resident knowledge, skills, and attitudes regarding SBIRT and unhealthy alcohol and other drug (AOD) use. ⋯ Adaptable curricula, such as SMaRT, may be a viable step towards developing a nationwide curriculum.
-
Residents feel unprepared to care for patients with chronic pain on long-term opioids who exhibit signs of prescription opioid misuse. ⋯ A brief training can improve residents' self-reported knowledge and confidence in managing patients with chronic pain and safe opioid prescribing practices. How this change in confidence affects patient care requires further study.
-
Overdose from opioids is a serious public health and clinical concern. Veterans are at increased risk for opioid overdose compared with the civilian population, suggesting the need for enhanced efforts to address overdose prevention in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care settings, such as primary care clinics. ⋯ Findings demonstrate that some providers believe they lack knowledge of opioid overdose prevention techniques and hold concerns about OEND implementation. More training of medical providers outside substance use treatment settings is needed, with particular attention to concerns about harmful consequences resulting from the receipt of naloxone.
-
The Collaborative for REMS (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy) Education (CO*RE) includes 13 organizations that provide REMS Program Companies (RPC) grant-supported accredited education on extended-release and long-acting (ER/LA) opioid therapy. This report summarizes results of a survey designed to investigate the impact of participant criteria and to better understand the roles and preferences of continuing medical education/continuing education (CME/CE) participants. ⋯ The authors concluded the likelihood of underreporting is small, but there is an opportunity to clarify license and prescribing questions; opioid management responsibilities are distributed among nonprescribing team members who play roles in reducing adverse outcomes from both ER/LA and IR opioids, who would therefore benefit from REMS education; and clinicians favor a test-based learning tool, should future circumstances warrant it. These findings could have implications for planning future ER/LA opioid REMS curriculum and for setting and interpreting training goals for the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) ER/LA opioid REMS program.
-
In 2012, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) responded to the opioid crisis with a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, requiring manufacturers of extended-release/long-acting opioids to fund continuing medical education based on the "FDA Blueprint for Prescriber Education." Topics in the Blueprint are "Assessing Patients for Treatment," "Initiating Therapy, Modifying Dosing, and Discontinuing Use," "Managing Therapy," "Counseling Patients and Caregivers about Safe Use," "General Drug Information," and "Specific Drug Information." Based on the FDA Blueprint, Boston University School of Medicine's "Safe and Competent Opioid Prescribing Education" (SCOPE of Pain) offers live trainings for physicians and other prescribers. During trainings, participants submit written questions about the curriculum and/or their clinical experiences. ⋯ In addition to learning the mechanics of safe opioid prescribing, providers want to understand government regulations and effective patient communication skills. Aware of the limitations of opioids in managing chronic pain, providers seek advice on alternatives therapies. Future updates to the FDA Blueprint and other educational guidelines on opioid prescribing should address providers' additional questions.