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Massive Open Online Course

Impacting the Opioid Crisis: Prevention, Education, and Practice
for Non-Prescribing Providers

This open-learning course is designed primarily for non-prescribing healthcare, behavioral health, dental and social services professionals, as well as graduate-level students in these fields. Other individuals may also benefit from this course such as educators and physicians. Continuing education credits will be offered in 2023.

How it Works

This course will empower non-prescribing providers to directly impact the ongoing opioid crisis in the United States through increased knowledge and tools that will transform practice and policies. The course will inform you about the opioid epidemic and provide information and research about evidence-based strategies that are focused on prevention, intervention, education, or policy.

As a learner, you will have the ability to select all modules or individual topics that interest you most. The course can be followed in a linear or non-linear structure according to your preferred viewing order, and is taught by experts in the field of opioid prevention, intervention, treatment, and policy. Through lectures, panels and interviews, knowledge checks and quizzes, and additional readings and activities, you can explore topics that are most relevant to your work or practice.

Enroll Now

This course is available on both Coursera and edX platforms. 

The project was developed collaboratively between the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, the U-M Injury Prevention Center, Michigan OPEN, and the Center for Academic Innovation.

Featuring IPC Core Faculty: Amy BohnertChad BrummettPatrick CarterRebecca CunninghamGina DahlemMichael EnglesbeJason GoldstickRebecca HaffajeePaul HilliardMark IlgenAllison LinJenifer MartinDonovan MaustQuyen NgoPhil VelizMaureen WaltonGolfo Tzilos WernetteSarah Stoddard, and Jessica Roche

Course Objectives & Curriculum

Female counseling female patient

Enrolled participants will learn to:

  • Explain the factors that contributed to the current opioid crisis.
  • Understand the pathophysiology of pain and its treatment, including what opioids are and how they work.
  • Understand how to reduce unintended use and misuse of opioids using various strategies, including prescribing guidelines, surveillance, safe disposal of unused opioids, and intervention messaging.
  • Identify what strategies and tools you can employ to impact the safe use of opioids across clinical care settings and with a variety of populations.
  • Describe best practices for assessing and treating opioid use disorder (OUD) and explain the evidence that informs these best practices.
  • Understand different aspects of public policy that can impact the opioid epidemic.
The course covers the following topics:

Module 1: Epidemiology and History of the Opioid Crisis
Course introduction and overview of the factors that contributed to the current opioid crisis
Module 4: Working with Patients and the Public
An overview of the strategies and tools you can use to impact the safe use of opioids across clinical care settings and with a variety of populations.
Module 2: Understanding Pain
Introduction to the pathophysiology of pain and its treatment, including the definition of opioids and how they work
Module 5: Addiction Treatment and Recovery
Overview of best practices for assessing and treating opioid use disorder (OUD) and an overview of the evidence that informs these best practices
Module 3: Prevention of Misuse and Abuse
Covers how to reduce unintended use and misuse of opioids using various strategies, including prescribing guidelines, surveillance, safe disposal of unused opioids, and interventional messaging
Module 6: Public Policy
Covers different aspects of public policy that can impact the opioid epidemic