APA Offers Opioid Treatment Training in Variety of Formats

Participating in the training of health care professionals under the program led by the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP; see story above) is another step that APA has taken to provide medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder. APA offers a wide range of comprehensive training opportunities for health care professionals seeking to enhance their skillset around MAT. Furthering its commitment, APA has now unveiled a newly revised online course and manual on buprenorphine training, informed by the latest research on the subject.

APA is part of the national training and mentoring project called the Providers’ Clinical Support System for Medication Assisted Treatment (PCSS-MAT). Like the AAAP initiative, this project is also funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. PCSS-MAT’s offerings are free, and CME credit is available to participants.

The initiative is geared at training physicians and other health care professionals on the most effective MAT for their patients in a variety of settings. Offerings include MAT training courses to obtain a waiver from the Drug Enforcement Agency for prescribing buprenorphine in office-based settings, small group discussions with experts, and online modules. For its part, APA offers monthly webinars presented by nationally recognized clinical experts, researchers, and government officials. To obtain more information about the offerings or to register, click here. To access the archive of APA’s PCSS-MATT webinars, click here.

For physicians seeking buprenorphine training, APA offers a variety of other opportunities that meet federal training requirements: live training sessions, a newly revamped webinar, and a newly revised book from APA Publishing. The live sessions are offered at APA’s Annual Meeting and at IPS: The Mental Health Services Conference. Registration is open now to registered attendees at the APA’s 2018 Annual Meeting; the session will be held Saturday, May 5, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ($63 for APA members, $79 for others). Alternatively, physicians may choose to read the new edition of the APA Publishing book Office-Based Buprenorphine Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder, Second Edition, and then take an online exam to obtain the waiver. ■