National Clinician Scholars Program, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Department of Family and Community Health, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Pain Manag Nurs. 2021 Feb;22(1):11-14. doi: 10.1016/j.pmn.2020.07.001. Epub 2020 Aug 3.
Opioid use disorder and overdose have reached unprecedented levels in many countries across the globe, including the United States, and pain is one of the most common reasons American adults seek healthcare. To address the interrelated public health crises of opioid use disorder and chronic pain, it is vital that clinicians practicing in diverse roles and settings possess the ability and knowledge to effectively manage pain, responsibly prescribe and monitor opioid analgesics, educate patients about harm reduction techniques, and treat opioid use disorder. However, future healthcare professionals are not receiving the training needed to competently provide this care. This gap in curriculum may lead to clinicians being unwilling and unprepared to address the current opioid and overdose crises, which requires a clinical understanding of pain and substance use disorders as well as knowledge about public health and policy interventions. To address this gap, we designed and are teaching an innovative transdisciplinary elective course titled "Opioids: From Receptors to Epidemic" for undergraduate nursing and premedical students.
In this paper, we present the course curriculum in detail, with the hope that educators at other institutions will design similar courses for their health professions students.
阿片类药物使用障碍和过量在全球许多国家达到了前所未有的水平，包括美国，而疼痛是美国成年人寻求医疗保健的最常见原因之一。为了解决阿片类药物使用障碍和慢性疼痛这两个相互关联的公共卫生危机，对于在不同角色和环境中执业的临床医生来说，具备有效管理疼痛、负责任地开具和监测阿片类镇痛药、教育患者减少伤害技术以及治疗阿片类药物使用障碍的能力和知识至关重要。然而，未来的医疗保健专业人员并没有接受过提供这种护理所需的培训。课程中的这一差距可能导致临床医生不愿意也无法准备好应对当前的阿片类药物和过量危机，这需要对疼痛和物质使用障碍有临床了解，以及对公共卫生和政策干预措施有相关知识。为了解决这一差距，我们为护理和医学预科本科生设计并教授了一门名为“阿片类药物：从受体到流行”的创新跨学科选修课。
本文详细介绍了这门课程的课程设置，希望其他机构的教育工作者能够为他们的医疗保健专业学生设计类似的课程。
