Addiction medicine remains a Cinderella clinical speciality in Australia, yet one in five Australians will experience an addiction problem within their lifetime.

General practitioners are best placed to provide addiction services to their communities yet there remains a stigma and a fear regarding the provision of such services.

This short course introduces general practitioners to the basic concepts of addiction medicine in Australia, i.e., the epidemiology of substance misuse, the effects of common substance misuse the opioid crisis, and the principles of pharmacotherapy.

IN THIS VIDEO WE COVER THE FOLLOWING TOPICS

  • Define substance use disorder and opioid misuse disorder

  • Australian experience of illicit and prescription drug misuse

  • Discuss the differences between rural and city based experiences

  • Common substances that are misused and clinical effects

  • Introduce the opioid crisis

  • Pharmacotherapy options

LEARNING OUTCOMES

  • Compare and contrast the patterns of substance misuse between cities and regional and rural Australia.

  • Summarise the epidemiological evidence for the opioid crisis and describe the Victorian response to this crisis

  • Defend the role of buprenorphine in opioid replacement therapy

Meducate® is a registered trademark in Australia