I'm elated to share our new and ongoing pain and addiction medicine research project, now live. The predoctoral dental medicine education version of the Opioid Dental Education and Training Program (ODEP), sponsored by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and initially created for continuing dental education (CDE) curricula, is available for students.
I had the pleasure of serving as the lead researcher/author for all predoctoral and CDE series, courses, and resources, effectively overseeing, strategizing, envisioning, and developing accurate scientific content, entrusted by my physician leadership and expansive stakeholder leadership team.
All excerpts from courses/content approved by our stakeholders.
From our Overview of Pain Medications and Opioid-Sparing Strategies CDE course for licensees, part of ODEP.
I'm forever grateful for my dedicated and intuitive intern team who supported coordination, formatting, and citations—these contributions cannot be understated. All content was final reviewed by the multidisciplinary project team of prescriber and policy experts, and approved for presentation and publication.
Curricula focuses on some of the most critical issues in dental medicine throughout the state and nation: evidence-based education and research on best practices for prescribing opioids; opioid-sparing strategies among common pain medication options; and screening and appropriate referral to medication for addiction treatment (MAT).
From our Overview of Pain Medications and Opioid-Sparing Strategies CDE course for licensees, part of ODEP.
Dental medicine education materials, and health communication materials for patients and loved ones/families, are available as part of the curricula.
Prototypes and adaptation resources created for students and dentists include printable and digital formats of the following items: concise policy reference charts; patient evaluation tools and scoring rubrics, adapted for dentistry practice settings; opioid prescribing protocols and guidelines; concise reviews of the most notable studies on dental pain research and dental pain management; and clinical workflow communication tools for integrated care teams.
From our Pain Management Strategies and Referral to MAT CDE course for licensees, part of ODEP.
For patients and loved ones/families, prototypes and adaptation resources created include both printable and digital shareable formats of the following items: journaling and goal-setting templates, tailored for dental patients at-risk of opioid dependence or opioid use disorder (OUD); safe opioid disposal education; and tailored peer education on naloxone.
The predoctoral dental medicine education version is available only to students as part of their curricula; however, course outlines are available to all here, here, and here. The asynchronous CDE version features open, cost-free registration here, with licensee participants eligible for cost-free CDE credits and certificates for submission to the State Board of Dentistry.
Currently, I'm analyzing both series for evaluation purposes and partnered with prescriber leadership as we disseminate, integrate, and adapt the curricula and resources on state and federal levels.
