The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics recently accepted publication of a letter to the editor titled “In Support of Residency Training to Address the Opioid Overdose Epidemic,” which urges the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) to establish a requirement that all residents and fellows who care for patients who use opioids, as well as their core faculty, receive specific training on the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD).

The letter notes that while the ACGME has significant oversight regarding educating and training physicians, none of its curriculum components require that physicians-in-training receive instruction on the treatment of OUD. Furthermore, physicians themselves have shown a lack of interest in training, with fewer than 7% of American physicians having completed the necessary 8-hour DATA 2000 waiver training to prescribe buprenorphine. Therefore, the letter concludes that in order for physicians to be sufficiently prepared to combat the opioid overdose epidemic, the ACGME must step in and require training in treatment of OUD.

Read the letter here. 

If you are interested in adding your name to the letter as a signatory you may do so here.