Teaching Opioid Use Disorder With an Asynchronous Residency Curriculum

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Public Health
• Addiction Medicine

Background:

• Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a major public health issue requiring primary care involvement.
• Residency programs often lack comprehensive training in evidence-based OUD treatments.
• Effective identification and management of OUD are crucial for patient outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a video-based, asynchronous opioid use disorder (OUD) curriculum on knowledge acquisition.
• To assess the curriculum's effectiveness among first-year family medicine residents.
• To determine the potential of this educational model for broader implementation.

Main Methods:

• A quasi-experimental design was used to assess the OUD curriculum's short-term impact.
• First-year residents (n=20) completed the asynchronous curriculum and were given pre- and posttests.
• A control group of third-year residents (n=9) completed only the posttest for comparison.

Main Results:

• Residents who completed the OUD curriculum showed a significant increase in knowledge from pretest to posttest (P<.001).
• A large effect size (r=0.62) indicated substantial knowledge gains.
• The intervention group's posttest scores were comparable to the control group, suggesting noninferiority.

Conclusions:

• The asynchronous OUD curriculum effectively improved resident knowledge in managing opioid use disorder.
• The curriculum's performance was comparable to traditional training, indicating its potential as a scalable educational solution.
• This model supports enhanced training for primary care physicians in addressing the opioid crisis.