The impact of a curriculum on postoperative opioid prescribing for novice surgical trainees.

Overview

BACKGROUND: Surgical residents are frequently responsible for prescribing postoperative analgesia, yet the vast majority are never formally educated on the subject. METHODS: A resident-led educational presentation on postoperative analgesia prescribing was provided to incoming surgical interns at a tertiary academic center. Pre- and post-surveys assessed comfort in prescribing postoperative analgesia. Following the educational intervention, opioid prescriptions during the interns' first two months were compared to that of the prior year's interns. RESULTS: Education was provided to 31 interns. Prior to the session, few interns felt comfortable prescribing opioids (20%) or non-opioid analgesia (32%). After the session, 96% felt more comfortable prescribing opioids and 91% more comfortable prescribing multi-modal analgesia. Interns who received education prescribed an average of 127.8 Morphine Milligram Equivalents (MME) per prescription, compared to 208.5 MME by the prior year's interns (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Education on postoperative analgesia targeting interns can be effective in preparing trainees in effective and judicious analgesic prescribing.