To All
Prescribers,
The current opioid epidemic represents one of the greatest public health
crises our state and the nation has faced in recent memory. It will take a
variety of aggressive and ongoing efforts to change its course. To be
successful, we must fully engage partners from all sectors across the
Commonwealth, including our prescribers.
Educating
health care professionals – present and future – is one step toward
redefining the practices of treating pain and substance use disorder. The urgency
of this public health crisis demands that we collectively respond both quickly
and decisively, ensuring that our practices truly reflect current scientific
understanding of this life threatening disease.
To this end,
The Massachusetts Medical Education Working Group – a first-in-the-nation
public/private partnership between the Commonwealth’s four medical schools, the
Massachusetts Medical Society and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health
– has defined and adopted cross-institutional core competencies for the
prevention and management of prescription drug misuse. In support of this work, all medical, dental, advance practice nursing, and physician assistant programs within
Massachusetts have adapted and adopted these core competencies. These professions – in partnership with the state and their professional associations
- are ensuring that the Commonwealth’s more than 8,200 future prescribers
currently enrolled within these programs receive the training and competency assessment
necessary to support the prevention and management of prescription drug misuse.
As prescribers, we have a collective responsibility to ensure these
competencies are fully integrated within our learning and practice. To
facilitate this task, the following free and readily available education
modules have been specifically identified to meet these competencies. We
encourage you to adopt the 10 core competencies and complete these modules– or
your own program adaptations – to both strengthen your practice and help lead
Massachusetts’ in its efforts to prevent and treat substance use disorders.
All prescribers in the Commonwealth
are encouraged to utilize these education modules to ensure their
practices reflect current laws and practices. Your ongoing efforts to meet the ever-changing challenges of this current epidemic
are critical. On behalf of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and
the Massachusetts Medical Society, we would like to extend our thanks and
appreciation.
Monica
Bharel, MD, MPH
Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Public Health
Henry L. Dorkin, MD
President, Massachusetts Medical Society
We are grateful to Boston Medical Center for their collaboration in developing this compilation of education modules.
We would like to acknowledge and thank these
institutions and professional associations who participated in the development of the core competencies for
the prevention and management of prescription drug misuse. They have all adopted the core competencies and we are appreciative of their efforts to ensure our next generation of health professionals is prepared to meet these challenges.
Getting Started…
All of the
modules and webinars are free,
but it is necessary to register on each of the sites to gain access to the suggested material. Once you have registered, it is simple to navigate in and out of the sites as you complete each competency. Within each learning domain there are corresponding
competencies with a suggested module or webinar. Some competencies have more than one choice of module, so you may choose the one best suited to your learning needs. An approximate time is given to complete each module and all of the modules can
be completed in 12 hours or less. The section titled “Evidence Based Methodologies” should also be reviewed since many of these tools are discussed in the education modules, and a working knowledge of them is expected.
Access the individual competencies and suggested education modules by clicking below...
CORE COMPETENCIES
PRIMARY PREVENTION DOMAIN
PREVENTING PRESCRIPTION DRUG MISUSE:
SCREENING, EVALUATION AND PREVENTION
Competencies 1-3
SECONDARY PREVENTION DOMAIN
TREATING PATIENTS AT RISK FOR SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER
Competencies 4-6
TERTIARY PREVENTION DOMAIN
MANAGING SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS AS A CHRONIC DISEASE: ELIMINATE STIGMA AND BUILD AWARENESS OF SOCIAL DETERMINANTS
Competencies 7-10
RECOMMENDED EVIDENCE BASED METHODOLOGIES FOR THE MANAGEMENT AND PREVENTION OF PRESCRIPTION DRUG MISUSE
RESOURCES AND ADDITIONAL EDUCATION