Kuster takes lead in call for medication-assisted treatment training for medical students

U.S.Rep. AnneMcLean Kuster

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Annie Kuster (D-NH), founder and co-chair of the Bipartisan Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Task Force, on Saturday led 14 Members of Congress in applauding the steps that medical education leadership has taken to respond to the opioid crisis while calling for more experiential training for medical students to learn to use medication-assisted treatment. Reps. Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Trone (D-MD), Turner (R-OH), Trahan (D-MA), and Miller (R-WV) were co-leads of this letter.

“As the nation’s sole accreditor for both allopathic and osteopathic residencies, we applaud the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) for convening a stakeholder congress to develop recommendations and curricular resources to confront the opioid epidemic,”  the Members wrote. “We also recognize the steps the Association of American Colleges (AAMC) and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) have taken to ensure both medical students and resident physicians have the training they need to tackle the opioid overdose epidemic, including by joining over 80 organizations to form the Action Collaborative on Combating Substance Use and Opioid Crises.”

“While we commend your work in this area, we believe that more can be done to provide medical students and residents with the in-person, experiential training necessary to use medication-assisted treatment,” the Members continued. “We urge ACGME, AAMC, and AACOM to accelerate their efforts to ensure medical students and residents have the necessary clinical experiences to treat confidently and effectively those suffering from OUD.”

In the U.S., the overdose epidemic has claimed over 500,000 lives since 2000. National opioid overdose deaths are on the rise, increasing from 68,630 in 2020 to 80,411 in 2021. More must be done to expand access to prevention and effective treatment for opioid use disorder.

Buprenorphine, when taken as prescribed, has been a critical tool in saving lives by easing opioid cravings and helping individuals transition into recovery. Congress has taken action to improve access to this medication by passing legislation to remove the “X-waiver” and the cap on the number of patients a physician can treat. However, despite required training, some clinicians still express hesitation in prescribing buprenorphine.

View the full letter here.