All of the major institutions that train doctors and other health professionals in Tennessee have agreed to begin teaching new best-practices on opioid prescribing. The state has asked schools to begin implementation this fall and fully adopt the 12 “core competencies” next year.

A commission appointed by Governor Bill Haslam developed the lessons for students. But there’s also interest in teaching practicing physicians.

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12 Lessons Tennessee Med Students Are Now Supposed To Learn About Opioids

One of the commission members, Vanderbilt associate vice chancellor for health affairs Bonnie Miller, says she plans to include the standards in continuing education for the university’s workin
g doctors.

“I’m certain that the majority of us who are currently licensed, that these knowledge skills and attitudes were not covered in our curricula when we were students,” she said at a press conference Thursday.

The Tennessee Health Department is also working on how to get practicing medical professionals to learn the latest skills for opioid prescribing. The state is developing an app that doctors and nurse practitioners could reference on their own or as part of the classes they have to take to keep their state licenses.