Assessing medical students' beliefs about the opioid crisis and their post-graduation plans: a cross-sectional study

The number of deaths in the United States attributed to overdose was 70,237 in 2017 and 67,367 in 2018. Approximately 67.7% and 69.5%, respectively, of these deaths involved the use of opioids. Moreover, different specialties of physicians often have different experiences and encounters with people involved with opioids. To investigate medical students' beliefs about the opioid crisis and their post-graduation plans from two medical schools in the United States.

312 students from one medical school with three campuses were surveyed on their experiences, beliefs, and the impacts that the opioid crisis has had on their lives and their medical training. T-tests compared the difference in confidence and expectations to treat people with opioid addiction. Qualitative data was also analyzed from participants' comments pertaining to the opioid crisis. A proportion test was performed to compare the percentage of students pursuing primary care for those immediately impacted by opioids. P < 0.05 defined statistical significance for all statistical tests performed in this study.

Approximately 39.7% of medical students surveyed were planning to pursue primary care, and 60.3% were planning to pursue any of the other specialties. The two-sample proportion test did not show a statistically significant difference in the percentage of students pursuing primary care for those immediately impacted and those not (P = 0.9, α = 0.05). The t-test comparing the expectation to treat people with opioid addiction did not show a statistically significant difference between students (P = 0.9, α = 0.05). Students wanting to pursue specialties outside of primary care were significantly more confident in treating people with opioid addiction (P < 0.01, α = 0.05).

This study was conducted to identify the differences in perspective of medical students planning to pursue varying specialties. The findings of this study show a disparity in confidence levels for treating people with opioid use disorder between specialties. The knowledge gained in this study can help to inform medical school curriculum design to ensure that all students feel confident and prepared to treat those with opioid use disorder.