Teaching about substance use and addiction is undergoing a seismic shift at medical schools. So what was the inflection point where the profound changes – which include humanized and harm-reduction approaches – began to gather momentum?
The opioid epidemic.
“When you have a hundred thousand deaths a year attributable to opioid and stimulant drug overdoses, the system needs to stand up, pay attention, and work to change how we approach this problem to try to improve outcomes for people,” said Tyler Coyle, MD, MS.
As an associate professor Department of Psychiatry at the CU Anschutz School of Medicine and co-director of the Division of Addiction Science, Prevention and Treatment, Coyle teaches future healthcare providers on how this epidemic came to be, how to approach encounters with patients affected by drug use, what treatments (don’t) work, and how the healthcare system needs to change to meet the needs of our patients.
“There’s been a confluence of factors which has led to our field really building up new approaches in teaching about substance use and addiction,” said Coyle. “It’s not a ‘moral failing’ on the part of people using drugs, and we’re teaching our students about the many factors that play a role in addiction –genetic, environmental, social. Embracing that nuance will enable providers to deliver better, person-centered healthcare.”
In the following Q&A, Coyle provides an overview of how the opioid epidemic shifted medical education, what an addiction curriculum looks like, and how to tackle stigma in addiction education.