Immersive Training Experience Helps Teach Safe Opioid Prescribing
By: David C. Holzman
Submitted by: Valerie Fulmer

Simulation and immersive learning techniques appear to be particularly effective and powerful for teaching safe opioid prescribing, according to a new study. The research involved pain medicine fellows and anesthesiology residents at Stanford University—all trainees at the graduate level—working in a simulated outpatient pain clinic. There, a standardized patient actor played the role of a patient who meets the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) for an opioid use disorder, and is asking for an opioid refill to prevent withdrawal, having presented to the clinician with only one tablet of hydromorphone left. Read the full Pain Medicine News article here.

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