Share this story

UMass Chan working with other Mass. medical schools, governor on opioid prescribing practices

  (L-R) UMass Medical School Dean Terence Flotte, MD, Massachusetts DPH Commissioner Monica Bharel, MD, and Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker listen as UMMS professor and Massachusetts Medical Scocity President Dennis Dimitri, MD, speaks during a recent press conference on opioid prescribing practices and training.
 

(L-R) Terence Flotte, MD, Monica Bharel, MD, MPH, and Gov. Baker listen as Dennis Dimitri, MD, speaks at the Sept. 2 press conference on opioid prescribing practices and training.

Terence R. Flotte, MD, and Dennis M. Dimitri, MD, met with Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker on Sept. 2 to talk about the future of medical education related to pain management and opioid prescribing practices.

Dr. Flotte, the Celia and Isaac Haidak Professor of Medical Education, executive deputy chancellor, provost and dean of the School of Medicine, applauded the governor and Department of Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel, MD, MPH, for pulling together representatives from the four medical schools in the commonwealth to discuss how they can help address the opioid crisis. UMass Medical School, Boston University School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Tufts School of Medicine are taking part in the initiative.

“We, the four deans of the four medical schools in Massachusetts, are committed to working together over the next several months to create this set of core competencies that you’ve called for around opioid prescribing so that we may begin to have effective prevention at the front end in terms of prescription drug abuse,” Flotte said during a news conference after meeting with Gov. Baker.

“Massachusetts is home to the best medical care in the world. We are a national leader in cutting-edge diagnostics and innovative technologies to treat complex conditions,” said Dr. Dimitri, clinical associate professor of family medicine & community health and president of the Massachusetts Medical Society.

“With this collaboration, we are again setting a new standard, this time for giving our young medical students and residents enhanced education to manage pain properly, while identifying addictive behaviors and getting patients into treatment, when needed,” Dimitri said.

Read more about the initiative:
Patch.com: Gov. Baker Enlists State's Medical Schools In Combatting Opioid Epidemic
Daily Free Press: Massachusetts Medical Society, medical school deans work together against opioids
WBUR: Baker Enlists Help Of Medical Schools In Fight Against Opioid Addiction Crisis
Gloucester Times: Med schools to improve training on pain prescriptions
MassLive.com: Mass. medical schools to collaborate on opioid addiction education
Boston Business Journal: Baker calls on medical schools to help head off opiate epidemic
WCVB: Med schools to improve training on how opioids are prescribed