Summary
This course will prepare learners to effectively and safely manage the treatment of clients receiving methadone or buprenorphine for opioid use disorder. The course will also promote interprofessional collaboration among the health care team involved in the delivery of opioid dependence treatment
Pharmacists who complete this course will be in compliance with the Ontario College of Pharmacists’ policy regarding required training.
Learning Objectives
- Explain the pharmacology of opioids and how they affect the brain
- Assess patients for opioid dependence based on criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
- Differentiate abstinence-based treatment and withdrawal management from methadone and buprenorphine maintenance treatment
- Decide on the appropriate treatment modalities for opioid-dependent clients
- Implement safe prescribing, dosing and dispensing of methadone and buprenorphine
- Incorporate urine drug testing into opioid maintenance treatment program
- Include counselling and case management in methadone and buprenorphine maintenance treatment
- Demonstrate interprofessional collaboration when providing opioid dependence treatment with methadone and buprenorphine.