The Boston University School of Medicine announced changes in its curriculum as part of Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker’s efforts to address the statewide issue of opioid addiction, according to a Sunday release.
BUSM is the most recent medical school in Massachusetts to expand courses in opioid dependence and overdose in addition to training in prevention, screening and multidisciplinary treatment of substance abuse, the release stated.
In November, the Massachusetts Medical Society and the medical schools at Harvard University, Tufts University and the University of Massachusetts have also partnered with the governor’s office in attempts to combat the opioid addiction epidemic, The Daily Free Press reported on Nov. 13.
BUSM Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Douglas Hughes said Baker’s office created the committee to develop a program that ensures a uniform effort among schools against opioid addiction.
“All four schools are trying to sign off on the same competencies,” Hughes said. “Before Gov. [Baker] had this committee formed, all the schools were addressing [opioid dependence] in their own way, but not in a more standardized way.”
Students who graduate from the participating medical schools will have learned 10 key points of dealing with substance abuse, as designed by Baker’s committee, Hughes said. The courses are designed to round out the schools’ existing programs and add a universal aspect to medical education among the different schools, Hughes said.
“This working committee actually came up with sort of agreed upon standards,” Hughes said. “Our school, in addition, will continue to teach curriculum we have always been teaching. We will expand with a share of competencies so that all medical students graduated in the state will have this level of knowledge.”
BUSM’s new curriculum includes courses for all four years and is supplemental to existing programs that address opioid abuse, the release stated. All fourth-year students in the school complete the BU-developed SCOPE of Pain program, a medical education and training on safe opioid prescribing for chronic pain.
Hughes said Baker’s office’s involvement with the schools has created a community dedicated to addressing health issues that specifically concern substance abuse among Massachusetts residents.
“We are in the middle of a health crisis right now,” he said. “It is wonderful the governor is seeing the importance of medical schools [in] solving current health crisis and getting our feedback and input. We want to be super responsive in community around us.”
Hughes said Baker’s interest in the issue of widespread opioid addiction and his involvement with various groups in Boston’s medical community is the first of its kind and is an important push to address health issues in Massachusetts.
“He is the first governor that I can recall who reached out to medical schools and talk[ed] about the importance of health crisis and issues in the state,” Hughes said. “He is looking for leadership from the medical school, and that is a really wonderful new partnership.”
Several students said the curriculum would benefit both individual collaborating institutions and the general medical society in fighting opioid addiction.
Lindsey Rateau, a sophomore in the College of General Studies, said substance abuse treatment is an issue that is complicated by strong social stigma.
“This is a really good move because substance abuse is a major public health issue,” she said. “However, people don’t usually want to talk about it or do anything about it because of its negative connotations. It’s considered to be taboo.”
Aine Russell, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she is glad to see more cooperation between different medical schools and believes this effort will lead to a better medical society in the near future.
“The new curriculum sounds like a great idea,” Russell said. “Also, a more integrated system can only be beneficial and make sure that BUSM can reduce redundant work by collaborating with other schools.”
Alana Parkinson, a senior in the Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, said while she believes this curriculum will help future doctors provide more counseling to patients on painkillers, several of the 10 competencies cause concern.
“I will be worried [about how to prevent] people who have family members who have history of drug abuse from getting painkillers,” Parkinson said. “Because families aren’t always representative in the client, and that can potentially lead to a lot of bias and prejudice.”
Alex Li contributed reporting to this article.
