The Impact on Future Prescribing Patterns of Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) Education and Waiver Provision During Residency.

Abstract

Family medicine residency programs vary in the extent of training offered on opioid use disorder (OUD) in their curricula. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of OUD education and buprenorphine waiver provision on postresidency buprenorphine prescribing patterns. Three North Carolina family medicine residency programs differed in the extent to which they taught OUD, including buprenorphine waiver provision. Program A required OUD education and assisted residents in obtaining a waiver; Program B offered OUD education and did not assist with obtaining a waiver; and Program C did not offer OUD education. In November 2019, graduates from these 3 programs were surveyed regarding the extent to which they engaged in treatment of OUD. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the survey participants and their responses. Of the 62 graduates invited to participate, 49 (79.0%) responded. Across the 3 programs, the percentage of graduates with a waiver varied significantly (<i>P</i> < .0001): Program A (84.2%), Program B (33.3%), and Program C (0.0%). Of those who were not waivered, Program B had a larger percentage that desired to prescribe buprenorphine products (70.0%) as compared with Program C (9.1%) (<i>P</i> = .009). Family medicine residency graduates from programs with more integrated OUD education were more likely to obtain and use a waiver to prescribe buprenorphine-containing medications postgraduation.