Opioid Use Disorder Curriculum: Medicine Clerkship Standardized Patient Case, Small-Group Activity, and Patient Panel

The overdose crisis remains a critical public health problem, creating an urgent need to train physicians in the treatment and management of opioid use disorder (OUD). Our medicine clerkship module aimed to close this gap by training and assessing students' motivational interviewing skills, harm reduction knowledge, and use of nonstigmatizing language in the treatment of patients with OUD.We evaluated the impact of a small-group, case-based activity and patient panel on the clinical documentation skills of students in a medicine clerkship. Clinical documentation was based on an observed structured clinical examination of a standardized patient with OUD and was evaluated using a grading rubric that followed the module learning objectives. Students also submitted reflections on the curriculum.Qualitative responses (The medicine clerkship provided an acceptable and feasible opportunity for implementing a multifaceted educational experience for students with significant immediate impact on their evaluation of patients with OUD.