Thursday, November 21, 2024
11/21/2024
Howard University Provider's Clinical Support System (HU-PCSS) will implement a 3-year, systematic, stepwise approach to enhance education and training about substance use disorders (SUDs) and SUD treatment for all Howard University (HU) College of Medicine (HUCM) medical students; College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences (CNAHS) Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), and Physician Assistant (PA) students. HU-PCSS will also enhance training about SUDs and SUD treatment for HU dental, pharmacy, social work, and graduate clinical psychology students. HU’s historic mission focuses on teaching and training underrepresented students who go on to serve underserved and minoritized communities. HUCM graduates approximately 110 medical students each year; 76% identify as Black of African American, 8.7% as Hispanic, and 8% as Asian; 55% as female; and 19% are first generation college students. The PA program enrolls approximately 20 students each year; 66% of those providing information identify as Black, 10% as White, and 10% as Hispanic; and 75% as female. The MSN and DNP programs enroll approximately 10 students per year; 100% identify as Black; 90% as female. Languages spoken include English, Amharic, Igbo, Oromo, Spanish, and French. The proposed PCSS-HU will be led and implemented by the Project Director, Project Coordinator, and a cadre of faculty champions from diverse backgrounds and with expertise in Addiction Medicine, including faculty in HUCM’s departments of Community and Family Medicine and Psychiatry, CNAHS graduate nursing programs and PA program, College of Pharmacy, and School of Social Work. Graduate health professions students will gain experiential learning through clinical clerkships or placements in trauma-informed, recovery oriented clinical services in HU’s Addiction Medicine programs and partnering Federally Qualified Health Centers located in Health Professional Shortage Areas that treat underserved, minoritized populations experiencing extremely high overdose death rates and severe health and behavioral health disparities. Beginning in Year 1, PCSS-HU will 1) address currently identified gaps and train medical students, graduate nursing students, and PA students in Motivational Interviewing, SBIRT, and overdose prevention (overdose education and naloxone distribution); 2) ensure that all students participate during clinical clerkships in a minimum 8-hour training on opioid or other substance use disorder, guidelines for safe prescribing of opioids for pain, and management of pain; and 3) begin a systematic process of curriculum development to plan and implement a SUD curricular "thread" and SUD clinical placements that will be integrated throughout the preclinical and clinical curricula. In Year 2, PCSS-HU will pilot implementation of the SUD threads into preclinical courses, clinical clerkships, and electives, using a process of continuous implementation evaluation to inform modifications of the curriculum and training. In Year 3, PCSS-HU will continue both 1) the implementation of the SUD curriculum and clinical placements for all medical, MSN, DNP, and PA students and 2) the process of continuing evaluation and, as needed based on the evaluation, modification of the training provided. HU-PCSS will provide training about SUDs and SUD treatment to a minimum of 135 graduate health professions students each year and a minimum of 405 graduate health professions students over the 3-year grant period. Incorporating the SUD curriculum into the general curriculum for all graduate health professions students ensures sustainability of the training after the end of the grant period.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
