Impact of a Multicomponent Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) Training Curriculum on a Medical Residency Program

Abstract

Background Substance-related disorders are a growing problem in the United States. The patient-provider setting can serve as a crucial environment to detect and prevent at-risk substance use. Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) is an integrated approach to deliver early intervention and treatment services for persons who have or are at-risk for substance related disorders. SBIRT training components can include online modules, in-person instruction, practical experience, and clinical skills assessment. This paper will evaluate the impact of multiple modes of training on acquisition of SBIRT skills as observed in a clinical skills assessment. Methods Residents were part of an SBIRT training program, from 2009 through 2013, consisting of lecture, role play, online modules, patient encounters, and clinical skills assessment (CSA). Differences were assessed across satisfactory and unsatisfactory CSA performance. Results 70% of the residents satisfactorily completed CSA. Demographics, type of components completed, and number of components completed were similar among residents that demonstrated satisfactory clinical skills compared to those that did not. All components of the training program were accepted equally across specialties and resident matriculation cohorts. Conclusion The authors conclude that the components employed in SBIRT training do not have to be numerous, or of a particular mode of training, in order to see observable demonstration of SBIRT skills among medical residents. Thus residency educators who have limited time or resources may utilize as few as one mode of training to effectually disseminate SBIRT skills among healthcare providers. As SBIRT continues to evolve as a promising tool to address at-risk substance-related disorders it is critical to train medical residents and other health professionals.

The Status of SBIRT Training in Health Professions Education: A Cross-Discipline Review and Evaluation of SBIRT Curricula and Educational Research

“…Only 4 studies (5%) set a priori skill benchmarks for their SBIRT training curriculum. 51,54,76,84 There were no studies in this review that set benchmarks specifically for MI proficiency. No studies measured SBIRT or MI skill longitudinally or connected trainee SBIRT skill with patient outcomes.…”

Postresidency Impact of Alcohol and Drug Screening and Intervention Training

“…[13][14][15][16][17] Feasibility studies from the early phases of these projects determined that infusing SBIRT curriculum into existing training programs was indeed possible. [13][14][15][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] The progress of developing and implementing curricula that yielded changes in resident attitudes and behaviors has been substantial. Residents not only reported satisfaction with training, 13-14, 17, 25 they also demonstrated improvements in knowledge.…”

Physicians’ experiences of SBIRT training and implementation for SUD management in primary care in the UAE: a qualitative study

“…This has been shown in other studies where primary care physicians received a short training course on mental health management, and training resulted in a positive change in attitudes (Al-Khathami et al , 2003; Mitchel et al , 2016). A study by Kanu et al (2016) found even short modules of SBIRT training delivered to medical students quickly lead to acquisition of SBIRT skills in practice. Thus residency educators who have limited time or resources may utilize as few as one mode of training to disseminate skills among healthcare providers.…”