Teaching residents to prescribe buprenorphine for opioid use disorder: Insights from a community-based residency program

Despite the impact of the opioid overdose crisis on the United States, few physicians are trained to provide treatment with buprenorphine. While research has described some factors contributing to comfort in providing buprenorphine treatment, more research is needed to identify optimal strategies to produce physicians who prescribe this medication. A community-based family medicine residency in Massachusetts sought to improve residents' comfort with prescribing buprenorphine by integrating patients treated with buprenorphine directly into resident continuity clinic panels in addition to existing mandatory didactic teaching. The program saw a significant increase in buprenorphine prescribing among residency graduates three years after graduation after integration of patients on buprenorphine into resident continuity panels. Efforts to further increase the number of graduates prescribing buprenorphine nationwide should emphasize supervised management of patients treated with buprenorphine during residency. •The opioid overdose crisis demands increased physician resources to prescribe medical treatment•Residencies have room to improve addiction curriculum to better respond to the opioid overdose crisis•Family doctors are well-situated to respond to the opioid overdose crisis•Placing patients receiving medical treatment for opioid use disorder into residents’ primary care panels increases their prescribing practice after graduation•Covid-19 allowed for more virtual collaboration between patients and their families, residents and attendings