A Qualitative Study About The Delivery Of Substance Use Disorder Education In Didactic Health Profession Curricula In The United States Of America

• By: CERNASEV, Alina (United States)
• Co-author(s): Dr Alina Cernasev (UTHSC, College of Pharmacy, Nashville, United States)
  Dr Rachel Barenie (UTHSC, College of Pharmacy, Nashville, United States)
  Mrs. Sydni Metzmeier (UTHSC, College of Pharmacy, Nashville, United States)
  Dr Shandra Forrest-Bank (University of Tennessee, College of Social Work, Knoxville, United States)
  
• Abstract:

  Background: Substance use and misuse continue to be major public health issues around the globe, and the associated stigma creates barriers in accessing evidence-based care. Students in health professions struggle to recognize and treat patients with substance use disorders (SUD), and limited qualitative data exists characterizing healthcare students’ collective perspectives about patients with SUDs.
  
  Purpose: To characterize the healthcare professional student perspectives about the stigma associated with SUD and how to address it in their respective curricula.
  
  Methods: Healthcare professional students enrolled in a health science center in the mid-South of the United States of America (USA) were identified via email to voluntarily participate in virtual Focus Groups in the Spring 2021. Two qualitative researchers led each focus group using a semi-structured guide developed using the Conceptualizing Stigma” theory by Link and Phelan (2006). All the focus groups were audio recorded, professionally transcribed, and thematically analyzed. Two researchers independently coded inductively the corpus of data using Dedoose®, a qualitative software. The researchers met to discuss the inductive codes and the emergent themes with the research team until saturation of data was reached.
  Results: Five virtual focus groups were conducted, and a total of 31subjects attended. The average age was 27 years of age. Most subjects were White (n=19) and female (n=21). Most of the subjects were from the College of Medicine (n=17), while the rest of the subjects represented the College of Pharmacy (n=14).
  Thematic Analysis revealed a theme: Students recommended to enhance their didactic courses providing SUD education
  In this theme, healthcare professional students present the current challenges regarding the SUD from a didactic perspective. In addition, they recommended various avenues beneficial for implementation in the pedagogical courses promoting SUD awareness, counseling techniques, patient interactions, and empathy.
  “…I haven't had the substance use disorder course yet, this is just my experience in [another course]… at least like I haven't gotten a ton of experience talking about patients who like haven't overdosed but are potentially at risk. We haven't talked about that as much. So, I'd like to see a little bit more of that.”
  “So I feel like the only thing you could really do is add something, another session, into [course name]…maybe something along the lines of psychological communication skills…there's a psychological basis to talking to these patients that probably not a lot of people understand.”
  “…it would be great to have as a rotational option in the P3 and P4 years, or at least, at minimum, emphasis of substance use disorders within rotations.”
  Conclusion: The findings highlight the need to improve our didactic courses and emphasize interprofessional activities across professions. In addition, this study's results call for further research on healthcare professional students perspectives on improving their pedagogical courses to better prepare them for patient care.