Primary Care Physicians Have Little Training on Handling Addiction

By: Jeffrey Lynne September 11, 2018 12:35 am

Time to read: 5 Minutes

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, addiction — whether to tobacco, alcohol or other drugs — is a disease that contributes to 632,000 deaths in the United States annually.

But comprehensive addiction training is rare in American medical education. A report by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University called out “the failure of the medical profession at every level — in medical school, residency training, continuing education and in practice” to adequately address addiction.

Dr. Timothy Brennan, who directs an addiction medicine fellowship at Mount Sinai Health System, said that combating the crisis with this provider work force is “like trying to fight World War II with only the Coast Guard.”

From: “Most Doctors Are Ill-Equipped to Deal With the Opioid Epidemic. Few Medical Schools Teach Addiction,” NY Times, 9/10/18.