Educational Activities Archives

This activity focuses on the assessment, mitigation and management of risk when prescribing opioids for analgesia. Learners are introduced to the concept of universal precautions and their role in opioid therapy, as well as to practical monitoring and documentation strategies. The fundamental principles of urine drug testing and interpretation are also reviewed, as is the differential diagnosis of opioid misuse. Special attention is given to overdose prevention, naloxone co-prescribing, and how to recognize and respond to an emerging opioid use disorder when prescribing chronic opioid therapy for pain.

Participants who engage in this activity learn to identify components of a neurobiological framework/explanatory model for patients with chronic pain and opioid use disorder, discuss complexities involved in differentiating opioid use disorder from chronic pain, and describe how to perform an opioid use disorder evaluation for a patient with chronic pain seen in primary care.

This activity focuses on buprenorphine for the treatment of chronic pain by reviewing different formulations and the evidence-base supporting its use for chronic pain with and without Opioid Use Disorder. Participants learn how to apply the evidence of buprenorphine’s effectiveness to different patient scenarios.

This module focuses on how to approach opioid tapering in the care of patients prescribed long-term opioid therapy for chronic pain who have not been diagnosed with opioid use disorder. It describes patient perspectives on pain and opioid management, and how these may diverge from prescribers’ perspectives. It describes challenges in opioid prescribing, including opioid dependence and withdrawal, and identifies practical approaches to reducing opioids while maintaining a positive patient-clinician relationship. Participants also learn about the role of shared decision-making in opioid tapering.

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.