UW College of Health Sciences Opioid Use Event Trains Future Professionals

The University of Wyoming College of Health Sciences Interprofessional Education (IPE) Committee recently hosted its ninth annual IPE Opioid Use and Abuse event that focused on training future health care professionals.

The program -- which included about 50 student participants from the Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing, the School of Pharmacy, the Division of Social Work and the Wyoming WWAMI Medical Education Program -- worked across disciplines to understand the broad spectrum of the use of opioids in patient care and the consequences of accidental or intentional misuses.

Members of the IPE Committee include Esther Gillman-Kehrer, Nancy McGee and Jill Proctor with the School of Nursing; Antoinette Brown and Sarah Pence with the School of Pharmacy; Billie Chapman with the Division of Social Work; and Dan Radosevich with the Wyoming WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho) Medical Education Program.

“Our goal is that the students who participate in IPE events will develop an understanding of the knowledge and expertise each member of the health care team contributes to treating patients with pain or those with an opioid or substance use disorder,” says Brown, who serves as the coordinator of experiential education. “An additional goal is to build student confidence in treating people with an opioid or substance use disorder so their patients can receive the care they need in their own communities without having to travel long distances.”

The event reflects the college’s commitment to preparing students to work collaboratively across disciplines to address complex health care issues such as opioid use and substance use disorders, says Patrick Hardigan, dean of the College of Health Sciences.

 “IPE experiences like this foster mutual respect, shared knowledge and team-based problem-solving skills that are critical to delivering high-quality, patient-centered care,” Hardigan says. “I want to sincerely thank the IPE Committee and participating faculty for their leadership in creating such a meaningful and impactful learning opportunity.”

Opioids consist of a class of drugs used primarily to treat pain. They activate an area of nerve cells in the brain and body called opioid receptors that block pain signals between the brain and the body. Continued use can result in a patient’s dependency on opioids and, for some, may include the introduction of the use and abuse of other substances.

Following a presentation by keynote speaker Dr. Kaylin Klie, an addiction medicine/family medicine specialist and associate professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, students were separated into groups with at least one discipline present from each college area represented.

The student groups then were presented with a fictitious patient case involving a pregnant patient with a variety of health issues along with a history of use and abuse of opioids and other drugs and alcohol.

Learning objectives for the program included identifying and being able to describe resources and tools available to health care providers when managing patients’ pain, and comparing and contrasting health professional roles, responsibilities and concerns related to safe and effective prescription opioid use.

"The opioid IPE event highlighted the critical importance of interprofessional collaboration in patient care. It demonstrated that every team member -- from social workers to physicians to pharmacists -- plays a vital role and brings valuable knowledge to the table,” says Katelyn Randall, a pharmacy student from Cheyenne. “Moving forward, when working with patients with substance use disorder, I will ensure that I approach them with compassion and empathy, making sure they feel supported, heard and respected. These patients are seeking help, and my goal as a future pharmacist is to work collaboratively with the healthcare team to develop the best, most personalized treatment plan possible."

Lindsey Eidsness, a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner student from Casper, says she was fortunate to experience some medication-assisted treatment in her clinicals, but attending the IPE event and hearing about others’ experiences made her feel more confident in her ability as a future provider to prescribe medications for substance use.

“It’s not as scary as it seems and, the more providers willing to prescribe, the more lives that will be saved,” Eidsness says. “I look forward to serving my community as a medication-assistant treatment provider.”

Part of the IPE event required students, as future health care professionals, to discuss the presence of and implications for implicit (unconscious) bias that they as health care professionals may hold toward patients involving opioid use. Discussion about the bias a patient may have against health care professionals also occurred, along with what students believe is required to improve patient outcomes while eliminating such bias in the health care environment.

“Our discussion on unconscious bias highlighted how these biases significantly impact care for patients with opioid use disorder without providers realizing it,” says Proctor a clinical associate professor. “Unconscious perspectives create treatment disparities that affect health outcomes. Students engaged in thoughtful discussion, offering insightful ideas about recognizing their own biases and how these might influence their practice. They emphasized creating nonjudgmental environments and using person-centered language when treating substance use disorders, demonstrating their commitment to providing equitable, compassionate care to all patients.”

The IPE Committee works to ensure that students from all areas of health education are able to learn and interact with one another to prepare them for their future roles in health care, knowing that each profession will likely work alongside the other in delivering quality patient care.

About the University of Wyoming College of Health Sciences

UW’s College of Health Sciences trains health and wellness professionals and researchers in a wide variety of disciplines, including medicine, nursing, pharmacy, speech-language pathology, social work, kinesiology, public health, health administration and disability studies. The college also oversees residency and fellowship programs in Casper and Cheyenne, as well as operating a speech/hearing clinic in Laramie and primary care clinics in Laramie, Casper and Cheyenne.

With more than 1,600 undergraduate, graduate and professional students, the college is dedicated to training the health and wellness workforce of Wyoming and conducting high-quality research and community engagement, with a particular focus on rural and frontier populations.