Opioid training simulation gives students hands-on experience working with the public
Interprofessional education event shows students how to work with patients dealing with chronic pain management
When you think of pharmacy school, you might imagine students learning about different types of medications, counting pills or learning the proper technique for sterile compounding, but what about getting face-to-face interactions with patients who are dealing with pain?
Last week, School of Pharmacy and SUNY Update Medical students worked alongside one another to gain that type of experience. Working in small interprofessional healthcare teams, they worked together to conduct interviews with standardized patients who spoke of having chronic pain.
During the encounter, each team evaluated the efficacy and safety of the patient’s chronic opioid regimen using opioid risk assessment tools to support clinical decision-making.
Following the interview, teams developed an individualized treatment plan to optimize chronic pain management, incorporating safe and evidence-based pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic strategies.
Clinical Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice Emily Leppien helped to lead the training and emphasized how activities like this are essential to students’ training.
“This activity is important as it helps future healthcare professionals develop the clinical and interprofessional skills needed to manage chronic pain,” she said. “Chronic pain management often involves complex decision-making, particularly when opioid therapies are part of the treatment plan.”
Opioid use can be a sensitive topic, and may not seem like something that pharmacy students would have to worry about, but Leppien said they don’t want their students to shy away from the topic, but rather dive in to gain a better understanding of it so they can help.
“Rather than simply avoiding opioid use, students learn to identify when it is indicated in accordance with evidence-based guidelines, monitor for safety and efficacy, and mitigate risks through the use of validated assessment tools,” she said. “This experience also reinforces the importance of incorporating both pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic strategies, and fostering a holistic, patient-centered approach to care that mirrors real-world clinical practice.”