Educational Activities Archives

Understanding addiction is essential to successfully addressing it. In this overview of substance use disorders, we discuss the spectrum of use, neurobiological responses to substances, theories that explain the disorders, public health impact and epidemiology, comorbidity, and integrated care for this chronic condition.

Unhealthy substance use and substance use disorders may often go unrecognized in primary care settings, either due to insufficient screening or provider discomfort with how to manage a positive screening. There are brief, simple, validated screening tools and strategies that can provide information to indicate unhealthy substance use or the possible presence of a substance use disorder. This information can inform providers whether a simple brief intervention or a referral to treatment is warranted. This course will: introduce screening tools for alcohol and other drug use; review more detailed substance use, medical, and psychiatric assessment considerations; demonstrate effective strategies for brief interventions; and discuss considerations for treatment referrals.

This course discusses the importance of integrating opioid use disorder (OUD) pharmacotherapy into general medical settings, and describes models in primary care, emergency rooms, and hospitals where medications for OUD treatment are successfully included as standard care. Through reviews of OUD pharmacotherapy implementation in clinical practice, participants will learn how to adapt these strategies to their own settings. The course also introduces evidence-based counseling approaches to enhance motivation, treatment engagement, and sustained remission. Standard Medical Management (SMM) will be highlighted as an efficient, structured option readily incorporated into primary care. Participants are encouraged to adapt this information for use in their own clinical practices.

Co-occurring psychiatric conditions are frequently seen in patients with substance use disorders. Clinicians should be alert to the signs and symptoms of common psychiatric disorders and should understand how to distinguish independent psychiatric disorders from substance-induced disorders. Depressive disorders and anxiety disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder, are the most common co-occurring conditions, though ADHD is often encountered across the range of substance use disorders. Substance use disorder patients with co-occurring psychiatric disorders will respond to most standard psychological and pharmacological treatments for these psychiatric conditions, though clinicians should avoid the use of scheduled medications and must always focus on sobriety as a primary treatment goal. Treatment that integrates addiction and psychiatric care is the most effective.

Provides a basic introduction of the concepts of the disease of addiction and the role of the reward system. Using neuroscience concepts as a foundation, clinical manifestations of the disease of addiction are then discussed in the form of case-based presentations. 

Outlines the basic concepts of alcohol and drug use disorders. Standard drink sizes, screening for alcohol use disorders and an introduction to alcohol withdrawal management are discussed. A basic overview of the major drug use disorders are then discussed in a clinically-relevant manner.