NC governor's institute provider's clinical support system universities grant - the proposed provider's clinical support system - universities: expanding medication assisted treatment (mat) capacity…

NC governor's institute provider's clinical support system universities grant - the proposed provider's clinical support system - universities: expanding medication assisted treatment (mat) capacity in NC project (pcssu-mat in NC) is a 3-year project to address the opioid epidemic in NC by expanding access to mat through education and training for nurse practitioners and physician assistants (collectively known as advanced practice providers/apps) and building school capacity to support these activities. Three APP schools in NC, the together produce approximately 180 graduates each year, will participate: winston salem state university nurse practitioner program (wssu), east carolina university nurse practitioner program (ECU) and pfeiffer university physician assistant program (PU). All of the schools have a strong primary care orientation and focus of producing clinicians more likely to work in rural areas and underserved areas. One of the schools is and hbcu that explicitly prepares is graduates to be leaders in assuring health equity of underserved individuals and communities. Leadership at these schools have committed to integrating the 24-hour online pcss student waiver training into their standard curricula such that students will be eligible to apply for the data 200 waiver to prescribe buprenorphine once they are issued a DEA number. Students will also be provided live/live remote training with office-based opioid treatment (obot)experts; and will be strongly be urged (if not required)to take advantage of opportunities for shadowing and clinical exposure to obot. This clinical exposure will allow students to experience obot in action and see/discuss clinical issues, challenges, solutions and positive treatment outcomes/benefits to increase student "readiness", dispel stigma, and provide students with knowledge about pcss and other resources available to assist them in offering mat. This exposure is critical to increasing the number of trainees who go on to apply for the waiver and actively prescribe. Because of the mismatch between need and capacity is most pronounced in non-white populations, the project includes a racial equity training/technical assistance component as well. Goals include increasing the supply of apps trained in NC to provide mat (particularly in rural areas and underserved populations); increasing the capacity of NC schools to train a workforce equipped to prevent and treat OUD; increase the supply of apps with the data 2000 waiver who actively prescribe; and to develop infrastructure at the schools that will ensure sustainability. Additionally, as faculty are trained and supported, we expect this project will lead to greater inclusion of more general substance use disorder education throughout the curricula. We expect that approximately 170 apps will be trained in year 1 and that a total of 543 will be trained over the 3 years. The impact this will have on future patients, families, communities and healthcare system cannot be quantified but is sure to have ripple effects for many years.