Interprofessional Substance Use Education for Primary Health Professionals: An Exploratory Study of Knowledge-Related Differences

ABSTRACT

To investigate knowledge-related outcomes and the impact of an inter-professionally delivered substance use curriculum on primary health professionals, 286 nursing and physician assistant trainees were assessed before and following the completion of a specialized substance use curriculum. The results of paired sample t-tests indicated that participants demonstrated significantly increased knowledge of substance use. There were no significant differences in learning outcomes related to gender, ethnicity, or discipline. The study provides initial support for the effectiveness of the interprofessional substance use curriculum in significantly increasing knowledge of substance use among both nursing and physician assistant trainees.

Keywords:

• substance use
• interprofessional education
• knowledge
• physician assistants
• nurses

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This project was funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association, grant # FG-000060-01.