Educational Activities Archives

Co-occurring psychiatric conditions are common in patients with substance use disorders, yet the “abstinence first” approach still shapes too much clinical practice, delaying care that patients need now. This course equips general health care providers – primary care physicians, nurses, PAs, and pharmacists – to recognize and manage the psychiatric conditions most often seen alongside substance use disorders, particularly mood disorders, anxiety and stress disorders (including PTSD), and ADHD.

This session explores the complex relationship between nicotine and opioid use, including shared biological pathways and how co-use can intensify pain, cravings, and withdrawal. Patients may rely on nicotine to manage stress or withdrawal symptoms, creating a reinforcing cycle that complicates recovery. Integrating treatment for both conditions is increasingly recognized as essential to improving long-term outcomes.

This webinar provides an exploration of recovery capital and its critical role in shaping outcomes for individuals with substance use disorders, particularly opioid use disorder (OUD). Grounded in contemporary and historic definitions of recovery, participants will examine recovery as a dynamic, multidimensional process that extends beyond symptom reduction to include improvements in health, purpose, community connection, and overall quality of life.

This webinar will focus on the crucial role of the emergency department (ED) in recognizing and treating opioid use disorder (OUD) patients with evidence-based medications for addiction treatment.

Medical complications are common among patients who inject drugs. Signs and symptoms of acute or chronic infectious diseases often prompt patients to seek medical care. The time of presentation for complications related to injection drug use presents an opportunity to screen and employ early intervention strategies and engage individuals in addiction treatment. This course reviews features of skin and soft tissue infections among people who inject drugs, reviews risk factors for Hepatitis C (HCV) and HIV, describes prevention interventions for HCV and HIV, and discusses treatment approaches for HCV and HIV in patients with opioid use disorder.

This activity reviews the following key data points which are important to primary care physicians: 1) the current epidemiologic data on drug-drug interactions between opioids and other medications, 2) possible explanations for increases in drug-drug interactions, 3) physiological and pharmacokinetic basis for adverse drug interactions, and 4) strategies for reducing risk for adverse drug interactions.