Welcome!

Continuing Education on Buprenorphine

The Opioid Addiction Treatment Training Curriculum offers continuing education to health professionals on opioid abuse, addiction, and office-based buprenorphine treatment. The content, based on the SAMHSA curriculum, has been updated and been reviewed by an expert panel. Courses include questions where users are asked to test their knowledge, as well as case studies in which users can make clinical decisions to apply what they have learned.

Program participants can take courses individually in any order. Users who want a comprehensive, complete education about buprenorphine should take all 12 courses in the order presented below. CAADAC Members: Take all 12 courses, contact us, and receive 8 hours of CAADAC-approved continuing education credit. Clinical Tools, Inc. is approved by the California Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (CAADAC), provider number OS-05-919-1207, to provide continuing education hours (CEHs).

CME/CE credit and Letters of Completion are available at a cost of $15/credit hour.

• The Primary Care Physician's Role in Addiction Treatment: The primary care physician's role in addiction treatment has changed in recent years. This course begins by discussing the responsibilities of primary care physicians regarding addiction treatment, and goes on to explain the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA 2000), under which buprenorphine was approved for the treatment of opioid dependence. Prescribing requirements for buprenorphine are also enumerated.(0.5 cr) Physician

• Scope of the Problem: Opioid Addiction: Understanding the scope of the problem of opioid misuse is essential before initiating an office-based buprenorphine treatment program. This course provides background information about the problems of heroin and prescription opioid misuse, including epidemiological data on recent trends, demographics, and geographic distribution of use. (0.75 cr) Physician | NBCC

• Health Impact of Opioid Addiction: Opioid misuse negatively impacts the health of opioid-misusing individuals, their families, and the public. However, treating opioid dependent patients can improve health outcomes, both for the dependent patient and associated individuals. This course explores both of these issues. (0.75 cr) Physician | NBCC

• Pharmacology of Opioids: Understanding buprenorphine's unusual pharmacology is key to safely and effectively prescribing this drug for opioid dependence. This course provides an introductory discussion of buprenorphine's properties, such as its high affinity for and slow dissociation from mu receptors and poor oral bioavailability. Finally, the properties of the buprenorphine and naloxone combination formulation are discussed. (0.5 cr) Physician

• Detection and Diagnosis of Opioid Dependence: This course provides an overview about detection and diagnosis of opioid dependence and related disorders, beginning with appropriate physician-patient interaction and helpful interview techniques. Also included are a review of the signs and symptoms of opioid dependence and clinical screening methods. (0.75 cr) Physician

• Assessment for Office-Based Treatment: Not all patients will be appropriate candidates for treatment with buprenorphine; some patients will be better suited to in-office buprenorphine treatment than others. This course presents the indications and contraindications for treatment of patients with buprenorphine, including a list of factors to consider when selecting patients for office-based buprenorphine treatment. (0.5 cr) Physician

• Clinical Use of Buprenorphine: When used properly, buprenorphine is a very safe and effective drug. This course instructs physicians about some subtleties of its use that minimize the risk of the patient being harmed, either by an adverse drug effect or by relapsing to opioid abuse. Topics included are the different phases of buprenorphine treatment, potential side effects and adverse events, and use of buprenorphine in special populations. (1.0 cr) Physician | CAADAC

• Opioid Use Disorders and Psychiatric Comorbidities: Psychiatric comorbidities are common in opioid-dependent patients, and it is important that physicians be able to identify psychiatric disorders in this population. This course is designed to prepare physicians to assess opioid-dependent patients for psychiatric comorbidities. In addition, the course will outline treatment options for each psychiatric comorbidity. (0.75 cr) Physician | ACPE

• Opioid Addiction in Special Populations: In some instances, practitioners will need to alter buprenorphine dosing protocols or refer patients for specialty psychosocial treatment; additionally, buprenorphine is not an appropriate treatment for some special populations. This course will discuss changes in clinical use of buprenorphine and treatment needs that physicians should be aware of when treating special populations -- including adolescents, pregnant women, and the elderly -- for opioid use disorders. (0.75 cr) Physician | ACPE

• Managing Patients With Substance Use Disorders in Clinical Practice: Patient management is one of the keys to conducting successful office-based buprenorphine treatment. This course covers how to define rules, manage expectations, and set boundaries. A discussion of potential problematic patient behaviors and how to handle them is also included. (0.5 cr) Physician | NBCC

• Other Treatments for Opioid Addiction: In addition to buprenorphine, there are several other pharmacological agents available for the treatment of opioid addiction. This course provides an overview about these various treatment approaches that are alternatives to buprenorphine treatment. Psychosocial therapies, complements to pharmacological treatments, are also covered. Finally, treatment settings are discussed. (0.75 cr) Physician | NBCC

• Office Policy and Legal Issues: There are certain legal and office policy issues that every physician and practice must consider when conducting substance abuse treatment. This course will address these topics, including confidentiality and medical record keeping. (0.5 cr) Physician

• Motivational Interviewing for Primary Care: This course was developed to introduce and demonstrate basic motivational interviewing techniques for primary care, techniques that have been used effectively to motivate people with alcohol, tobacco, and other substance abuse problems to change their behavior. (1.0 cr) Physician | ACPE | CAADAC | TCBAP | NBCC |NY OASAS | Letter of Completion | FBD | FBN | FPTA | CECH