The Beaver College of Health Sciences recently received over $300,000 in funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to train students across the college to screen individuals for substance abuse disorders. This is part of an increasing emphasis on interprofessional education by the college.
Participants in the training program will be able to appropriately screen for and identify substance abuse, plan and implement a tailored brief intervention, and will apply the screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) approach to substance abuse problems by individualizing these clinical skills to different patients.
Annette Ward, Lecturer in the Department of Social Work, will direct the project and is working with Heather Thorp, Field Director in Social Work, and Carol Cook, Research Coordinator for the BCBS-NC Institute for Health and Human Services (IHHS) to develop the training program.
Program organizers have partnered with faculty at Wake Forest School of Medicine to adapt a previously established medical student training program for students in the BCHS. Dr. David Miller, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Public Health Sciences and Dr. Sebastian Kaplan, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine from Wake Forest School of Medicine are contributing to the development of the specialized program.
SAMHSA is the agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Humans Services that leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation. Established in 1992, SAMHSA was founded to make substance abuse and mental disorder information, services, and research more accessible. SAMHSA's mission is to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America's communities. More information about SAMHSA is available here.
The Beaver College of Health Sciences prioritizes interprofessional development as part of creating an environment to teach students in a collaborative model of education, research, and clinical outreach. Additional information about the college is available here.
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