Impact of an Educational Intervention on the Opioid Knowledge and Prescribing Behaviors of Resident Physicians

Background: The opioid epidemic is a multifactorial issue, which includes pain mismanagement. A recent study has shown that residents have received little training for opioid related patient care. Therefore, resident physician education is essential in addressing this issue. We aimed to analyze the effects of an educational intervention on the knowledge and potential prescribing habits of emergency medicine, general surgery, and internal medicine residents. Methods Resident physicians were provided with educational materials and were given pre- and posttests to complete. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze pre- and posttest responses. Chi-squared analysis was used to identify changes between the pre and posttests. A p < 0.05 value was considered statistically significant. Results Following the educational intervention, we observed improvement in correct prescribing habits for acute migraine management among emergency medicine residents (from 14.8–38.5%). Among general surgery residents, there was significant improvement in adherence to narcotic amounts determined by recent studies for sleeve gastrectomy (p = 0.01) and laparoscopic cholecystectomy (p = 0.002). Additionally, we observed a decrease in the number of residents who would use opioids as a first line treatment for migraines, arthritic joint pain, and nephrolithiasis. Conclusions Resident physicians have an essential role in combating the opioid epidemic. There was significant improvement in various aspects of opioid related pain management among emergency medicine, internal medicine, and general surgery residents following the educational interventions. We recommend that medical school and residency programs consider including opioid related pain management in their curricula.