The opioid crisis has a solution -- Here it is

I recently attended a symposium examining how medical schools can prepare future doctors to deal with the continuing opioid crisis. I joined over 90 educators from 30 medical schools at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University to discuss devising a curriculum based on a successful model that Brown has created.

The curriculum on opioids is designed to accomplish two objectives:

First, teaching medical students how to identify and properly treat pain. In the past, medical students have been notoriously undereducated when it comes to pain and pain management. They have over-prescribed opioids because of pressure from drug companies and patients. Now newly minted doctors will manage multidisciplinary teams to properly manage pain without opioids whenever possible.

Second, training medical students to qualify for waivers so that when they graduate they can prescribe treatments including buprenorphine to manage opioid use disorders. Buprenorphine is an opioid medication that produces less euphoria and physical dependence than other opioids and is used to treat opioid addiction.

At the groundbreaking symposium at Brown I joined former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy on stage to interview him and discuss key issues involving opioid addiction. Over lunch before the session, Murthy – who was surgeon general from December 2014 until April 2017 – and I discovered we have some things in common.