Innovations in Medical Education: Addiction Medicine Educational Consults

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Addiction Medicine
• Internal Medicine Residency

Background:

• Addiction medicine care is essential for internal medicine residents.
• Many hospital systems lack dedicated addiction medicine consult services for training.
• This limits residents' practical learning opportunities in managing substance use disorders.

Purpose of the Study:

• To offer internal medicine residents clinical training in evidence-based substance use disorder treatment.
• To establish a feasible model for addiction medicine education in residency programs.
• To enhance residents' skills in managing patients with substance use disorders.

Main Methods:

• Implemented an "educational consult" program within an academic tertiary care internal medicine residency.
• Internal medicine residents discussed patient cases involving substance use disorders with an addiction medicine provider.
• Conducted program evaluation over one academic year, involving 50 unique trainees.

Main Results:

• Completed 44 educational consults, primarily focusing on opioid and alcohol use disorders.
• High resident satisfaction reported (average 4.9/5).
• 70% of participants reported consults changed patient care; 50% reported changes in their future patient management approach.

Conclusions:

• Educational consults are a viable method for providing graduate medical education trainees with advanced addiction medicine exposure.
• This model effectively supplements training in settings without established addiction medicine consult services.
• The program demonstrates feasibility and positive impact on resident learning and patient care.