Opioids: What Clinicians Need to Know

Date: 05/10/24             Time: 9:30am – 11:00am

Enrollment Limited to: No limit

Contact Hrs: 1.5                           CEU’s: 1.5

Method: Lecture, discussion

Drug overdose now causes more deaths than car accidents and is the leading cause of injury death in the United States. The overwhelming majority of these deaths are due to opioids. This session will give an overview of opioids, including their various types and main intoxication symptoms. Important trends in opioid addiction will be reviewed, including the rise of synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl. The presentation will then cover important
overdose risk factors and signs to recognize along with how to treat opioid overdose with naloxone. In addition, medication assisted treatments for opioid use disorder will be discussed in detail. These treatments include methadone, buprenorphine, and extended-release naltrexone. Finally, how to differentiate and treat psychiatric symptoms that occur with opioid use disorder will be discussed. Time for questions will be available after the presentation.

Learning Objectives:

• Define opioids and their different types.
• Learn the history of the current opioid crisis and the dangers of synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl.
• Identify the main intoxication symptoms of opioids.
• Define physical dependence and tolerance.
• Recognize the main overdose risk factors, signs, and how to treat opioid overdose.
• Articulate why medication assisted treatments are critical to treating opioid use disorder and the main differences of these treatments from each other.
• Recognize co-occurring psychiatric symptoms that may occur with opioid use disorder and how to treat them.

Instructor: John Douglas, MD, MBA, MS
Locations: Live via Zoom
Cost: Free to attendees thanks to an Opioid Settlement Fund Treatment Grant awarded to WJCS by the Westchester County Department of Community Mental Health.

Westchester Jewish Community Services is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0101, and by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW0067.

Please note: To receive CE credits, one must attend the entirety of the class. Partial credit will not be awarded to those who attend only a portion of the class. Therefore, late arrival or an early departure of greater than 10 minutes constitutes not attending a class in its entirety. To document attendance, participants must sign in and out of the class and complete an evaluation at the end of each class.

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