Many medical students applying for surgical residency feel inadequately prepared to prescribe post-operative opioids.

BACKGROUND

Little is known regarding medical school curricular variability regarding safe prescribing of post-operative opioids for students entering surgical residency.

METHODS

Surveys were administered to general surgery residency interviewees at an accredited academic institution for 2018-2019 application season. Responses were anonymously recorded using web-based software on an electronic tablet. Descriptive statistics were evaluated using proportions and medians with interquartile range.

RESULTS

Of 103 eligible, 90 (87.4%) interviewees participated. Although 96.7% of students reported opioid pharmacology during medical school, 35.6% reported their curriculum did not include educational material on acute pain management. While 91.1% felt their curriculum adequately covered opioid related adverse events, 34.4% felt adequately prepared to prescribe post-operative opioids to surgical patients.

CONCLUSION

Students entering surgical residency from US medical schools have variable exposures to opioid related educational content and many students feel their medical education inadequately prepared them for prescribing postoperative opioids.