A model alcohol and other drug use curriculum for pediatric residents

While alcohol and other drug (AOD) use is a major health risk for adolescets in the United Stares, there is a paucity of ADO training for pediatric resi dents. In 1991-92, the University of Wisconsin Medical School developed an experiential, community-based AGD curriculum tor pediatrics residents The curriculum included resident participation in a community-based AOD adolescent assessment and intervention program, interactive didactic sessions, role-playing practice, and interviewing skills sessions, The residents who participated in the curriculum {n = 25) were compared with a control group (n = 19). Evaluation included pre- and post-curriculum written tests, objective structured clinical examinations, and residents’ ratings of the curriculum components. The residents who participated showed significant gains in AOD knowledge, utilization of screening techniques, and clinical management skills as compared with the controls. The residents gave positive ratings to all curriculum components the well-received curriculum can serve as a national mode! both for AOD education in pediatrics and for curriculum development in ocher areas ot adolescent health-risk-taking.