Impact of an innovative pain elective course on student beliefs and attitudes towards opioid medication use

To determine if an innovative elective course in chronic pain management focused on a multimodal treatment approach changed student views on opioid use for chronic, non-cancer pain.

Offered to students in the second and third professional year, the course focused on various aspects of the treatment and impact of pain. Students completed two major, self-directed projects as well as four reflection journals throughout the semester. A nine question survey was provided to students on the first and last day of class that identified their beliefs and attitudes towards opioid use in chronic non-cancer pain using a five point Likert scale.

There was a statistical difference in one question asking if long acting opioids were effective in controlling pain long term.

There was evidence of change in student perceptions. Similar self-directed courses should be considered by other institutions as a means to change student beliefs and attitudes.