Opioid Use Disorder Education for Students and the Future of Opioid Overdose Treatment

Abstract

Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a major public health concern in the United States. The opioid crisis has taken hundreds of thousands of lives in the past 20 years, and it is predicted to take millions more. With the rising death tolls, it is essential that health care providers are able to use proper tools to treat OUD efficiently and effectively through medication-assisted treatment (MAT), particularly buprenorphine. Despite changes to buprenorphine regulations making it more accessible, clinicians have been slow to use buprenorphine to treat OUD. We believe that training student clinicians in evidence-based MAT and buprenorphine practices will address the training and competence barriers that hinder clinicians from prescribing buprenorphine to treat OUD. Students are in an ideal position to receive and benefit from this training and influence the medical community to better treat OUD.