Identification, Counseling, and Treatment of OUD

Identification, Counseling, and Treatment of OUD

This is one of three courses that comprise the Opioid Use Disorder Education Program (OUDEP), an innovative interprofessional continuing education program produced by Harvard Medical School (HMS). This project was funded in part with federal funds from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No. HHSN271201500070C. This course is intended for nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, physicians, social workers, and other health care providers collaborating to treat patients with substance use disorders.

Identification, Counseling, and Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder focuses on current best practices in identification and treatment of OUD, including treatment and maintenance with different medications, psychosocial approaches to treatment, addressing co-occurring psychiatric disorders, and preventing and treating overdose.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

• Describe effective practices in screening, identification, counseling, and treatment of patients with opioid use disorder
• Recognize the use of medications including buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone as treatment options for opioid use disorder, and in overdose management and prevention
• Identify psychosocial treatment options for patients with opioid use disorder
• Examine the need to treat comorbid psychiatric disorders in patients with OUD

Target Audience

This course is intended for nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, physicians, social workers, and other health care providers collaborating to treat patients with substance use disorders.

Course Director

Joji Suzuki, MD
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School
Director of the Division of Addiction Psychiatry and Director of Addictions Education in the Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Course Outline

Welcome to the Course

Identification, Counseling, and Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder covers the following eight units:

1. Screening, Identification, Counseling, and Treatment of OUD
2. Buprenorphine as a Treatment Option for Opioid Use Disorder
3. Methadone Maintenance Treatment for the Opioid Use Disorder
4. Naltrexone as a Treatment Option for Opioid Use Disorder
5. Psychosocial Treatments for Opioid Use Disorder, Overview
6. Assessment and Management of Co-occurring Psychiatric Illnesses During Office-Based Opioid Treatment
7. Opioid Overdose: Risks, Clinical Features, Treatment and Approaches to Reduction of Negative Consequences
8. Choosing a Treatment for Management of Opioid Use Disorder - Case Studies

Posttest and Evaluation