A Pilot Interprofessional Course on Substance Use Disorders to Improve Students' Empathy and Counseling Skills.

To implement and assess the effectiveness of an interprofessional course designed to provide pharmacy and nursing students with opportunities to improve their understanding of substance use disorders (SUDs), assess their attitudes toward patients with SUDs, receive instruction and feedback on behavior change counseling, and engage in interprofessional education. The course consisted of four interactive class sessions that focused on empathy and recognition of personal bias, behavioral change counseling, and SUD recognition, screening, and treatment. Classes were taught by an interprofessional faculty member.

Behavior Change Counseling of Patients with Substance Use Disorders by Health Professions Students.

Objective: The purpose of this project was to create an interprofessional substance use disorders (SUDs) course that provided health professions students an opportunity to acquire and apply behavior change counseling skills for patients with SUDs with direct observation, assessment, and feedback.

Methods: The interprofessional SUDs course was offered five times within one academic year as part of a one-month psychiatry clerkship. The course focused on developing empathy and examining personal bias, behavioral change counseling, and recognition, screening, and treatment of SUDs.