CHA psychiatrist helps to transform curriculum to prevent substance abuse
Todd Griswold, MD, an outpatient psychiatrist at CHA and director of medical student education in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, is spearheading the transformation of HMS’s curriculum in order to teach medical students better pain medicine prescribing practices, learn signs of addiction and to de-stigmatize substance use disorders
The main goal of the curriculum reform is to train future physicians to have compassion, rather than judgment, for people who are battling opioid use disorders. Instructional modifications have already been adopted, starting with the main preclinical psychiatry course, “Introduction to Clinical Psychiatry and Psychopathology,” led by Dr. Griswold. This mandatory course for second-year HMS students now emphasizes opioid use disorder, medication-assisted treatment and also contains presentations on adolescent substance use disorder. The first year Practice of Medicine course has been updated as well, to include a greater emphasis on opioid use disorder.
He shared his experiences with Harvard Medical School’s online newsletter.
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