Educating Residents About Cannabis: Results of a Needs Assessment

Cannabis use by people receiving mental health services is increasingly common, yet many psychiatrists have limited knowledge about the pharmacology of cannabis or its clinical effects. Though clearly relevant to residency training, there is little information on unmet needs and current teaching practices to guide educators who wish to develop a cannabis curriculum. To address this, the authors interviewed key informants and surveyed Canadian psychiatry program directors and residents about cannabis education seeking to determine appropriate content and approaches to inform curriculum development.

The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with 7 experts in addictions and psychiatry education. Findings were then used to develop a needs assessment survey about cannabinoid teaching in residency education. Residents and program directors from psychiatry training programs in Canada were invited to complete the online survey.

Key informants believed residents are not adequately prepared to manage substance use disorders and recommended additional training be dedicated to cannabinoid education, including cannabis use disorder. Seven program directors and 27 residents completing the survey made recommendations for curriculum content and design. Pharmacology, neurobiology, and managing cannabis use disorders were identified as the most important topics for inclusion. A majority of respondents rated 5 of 8 proposed learning objectives as not supported by existing curriculum and supported an integration of key topics across training years.

Respondents identified an urgent need for programs to offer an integrated cannabis curriculum. As cannabis use increases internationally, these findings may be useful to inform curriculum development in other countries.