Accepted Type
Oral
Code
OC2-3-1
Acceptance Declaration
Accept
Additional Information
I declare I have no actual or potential conflict of interest in relation to this program.
Was this work accepted for CCME 2020?
yes
Category
General Call (Workshop, Oral Presentation, Poster Presentation)
Type
Oral
Sub Type
Education Innovation
Will the presenter be a:
Student
Affiliation
Considered for Poster
yes
Title
Evaluation of a Pilot Addiction Medicine Week Created for and by Pre-Clerkship Medical Students
Length of Presentation
Background/Purpose
Medical students receive limited exposure to substance use disorders (SUDs) throughout their undergraduate medical training, despite its prevalence in society. At the University of Toronto, a pilot week-long extra-curricular program in addiction medicine was developed by medical students for pre-clerkship students to enhance their SUD knowledge, skills and attitudes to better prepare them for clinical practice.
Summary of the Innovation
Curriculum objectives were created to reflect the CANMEDs roles. The novel curriculum included half didactic and half clinical shadowing experiences. Didactic lectures and workshop topics included: the biopsychosocial model of addiction, motivational interviewing, harm reduction care models, naloxone training and stigmatization of addiction disorders. The clinical course component involved placements at residential treatment facilities, in-patient hospital services, rapid access clinics and specialty addiction medicine placements (e.g. substance use in pregnancy clinics, etc.). The curriculum was evaluated using a mixed-method design, and all learning objectives were addressed, as determined by qualitative analysis. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the program was shifted to a virtual format.
Conclusion
Participants reported being highly satisfied with the program, and felt the clinical exposure was invaluable for skills building, career exploration, and understanding stigma and the patient experience. In addition, participants felt that program stimulated personal and professional growth, and introduced them to forms of advocacy for this vulnerable population. Key learning points included prioritizing patient and family member perspectives. Overall, participants felt the week initiated a change for their future practice and felt that all medical students should have similar exposure to addictions medicine.
Keyword 1
Addiction medicine
Keyword 2
Student initiative
Keyword 3
Program evaluation
Level of Training
Undergraduate
Abstract Themes
Distributed Medical Education
Additional Theme (First choice)
Undergraduate
Additional Theme (Second Choice)
Leadership
Additional Theme (Third Choice)
Authors
Presenter
Robin Glicksman
Term 1
Yes
Term 2
Yes
Term 3
Yes
Term 4
Yes
Term 5
Yes
