Growing a Competent Workforce in a Rural State: The University of Kentucky Bell Addiction Medicine Scholar Program
Our speaker is Michelle Lofwall, MD, DFAPA, DFASAM, Professor of Behavioral Science and Psychiatry, and Bell Alcohol and Addictions Endowed Chair at the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Medicine in the Center on Drug and Alcohol Research. This presentation explores the importance of treatment and medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) along the continuum of care in rural communities and outlines a training program taking place at UK for physicians who are in positions of treating patients and educating future physicians.
Learning objectives
1. Discuss evidence showing the need for MOUD in rural communities
2. Describe ways to increase access to MOUD for people in rural communities
3. Describe the importance of clinical training for those who may interact with patients who use opioids
4. Outline details of one training program in Kentucky and its relevance to the needs of rural communities
Speaker
Michelle Lofwall, MD, DFAPA, DFASAM
Michelle Lofwall, MD, DFASAM and DFAPA is a Professor in the Departments of Behavioral Science and Psychiatry and the Bell Alcohol and Addictions Endowed Chair at the University of Kentucky (UK). She is the medical director of UK’s Robert Straus and First Bridge Clinics, which provide comprehensive opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment within the UK Center on Drug and Alcohol Research. Her passion is in improving the care of patients with substance use disorders, and her research has included evaluation of novel treatments for opioid use disorder (e.g., buprenorphine implants and depot injections), physician training, understanding factors associated with buprenorphine diversion, and improving care of complex patients with OUD and deep-seated infections. She has received numerous teaching and mentoring awards and was an expert panel member for SAMHSA’s Treatment Improvement Protocol on Medication Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder and invited speaker to the National Academy of Medicine.