The impact of a curriculum on postoperative opioid prescribing for novice surgical trainees.

BACKGROUND

Surgical residents are frequently responsible for prescribing postoperative analgesia, yet the vast majority are never formally educated on the subject.

METHODS

A resident-led educational presentation on postoperative analgesia prescribing was provided to incoming surgical interns at a tertiary academic center. Pre- and post-surveys assessed comfort in prescribing postoperative analgesia. Following the educational intervention, opioid prescriptions during the interns' first two months were compared to that of the prior year's interns.

RESULTS

Education was provided to 31 interns. Prior to the session, few interns felt comfortable prescribing opioids (20%) or non-opioid analgesia (32%). After the session, 96% felt more comfortable prescribing opioids and 91% more comfortable prescribing multi-modal analgesia. Interns who received education prescribed an average of 127.8 Morphine Milligram Equivalents (MME) per prescription, compared to 208.5 MME by the prior year's interns (p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Education on postoperative analgesia targeting interns can be effective in preparing trainees in effective and judicious analgesic prescribing.