Hundreds of medical residents at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio will learn to recognize substance abuse problems as they develop and to intervene quickly and effectively, thanks to a recently awarded federal grant.
$1.8 million grant will fund training The Health Science Center will receive $1.8 million over five years from the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The award was announced in September at the White House.
The grant will be used to create a Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral and Treatment (SBIRT) program. Medical residents will learn to identify developing substance abuse problems, or those that have gone undiagnosed, and to intervene or, if necessary, provide referrals for specialized treatment. SBIRT programs have been shown to decrease drug and alcohol use and to increase the number of patients entering specialized treatment, according to SAMHSA.
Dr. Janet Williams, the principal investigator for the grant program, said that the Health Science Center and the 10 other institutions across the nation that were awarded this funding in September are the first to receive federal funds specifically to train medical residents in SBIRT skills.
Drug use major cause of disease and death
“Use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs directly and indirectly contributes to the top causes of morbidity and mortality [sickness and death], so addressing substance use and abuse across the lifespan will contribute to a healthier Texas,” Dr. Williams said. “By developing the knowledge, attitudes and skills needed for SBIRT, our trainees will stay poised on the cutting edge of residency education. We are committed to disseminating SBIRT training to health professionals across disciplines in South Texas and will try to educate still more statewide.”
Training to involve several departments
The Health Science Center’s Department of Pediatrics will coordinate the SBIRT training. A number of departments will participate, including Family & Community Medicine, Psychiatry, Medicine, and Obstetrics and Gynecology. The training, which is scheduled to begin in February 2009, also will include residency programs in Internal Medicine and Family & Community Medicine at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio’s Regional Academic Health Center (RAHC) in Harlingen.
