APMA News - July/August 2017 - S1

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JULY/AUGU S T 2017 / ISSUE 47

APMA PUBLIC HEALTH FELLOW RESEARCHES OPIOID EPIDEMIC

R

Your APMA is supported through a generous
educational grant from Spenco Medical by Implus.
Editor
Design

Will Scott; wpscott@apma.org
Suzanne Kleinwaks Design

APMA IS SOCIAL: ARE YOU?

ebecca Sundling, DPM, MPH, spent
the past year as APMA's Public Health
Fellow at The Dartmouth Institute for
Health Policy and Clinical Practice (TDI).
During this time, Dr. Sundling studied many
aspects of the health-care field, expanding
her knowledge in patient-centered health
care, among other topics. Throughout the
course of the year, Dr. Sundling partnered
with James DiResta, DPM, MPH, and the
Massachusetts Podiatric Medical Society
(MPMS) on a project assessing and addressing pain management education in podiatric
residency in light of the opioid epidemic.
The first component of Dr. Sundling's
project assessed the attitudes and
knowledge of the podiatric residents in

Massachusetts regarding pain management
and addiction recognition. To do this, Dr.
Sundling used knowledge gained from her
qualitative research class at TDI to create
a 30-question survey, including a 10-point
knowledge assessment with two patient
cases. The results of the survey, completed
by 33 out of 39 residents, demonstrated that
the residents were challenged by basic pain
medication knowledge, including side effects
and equivalent doses.
The residents responded that they felt
confident in managing surgical pain, but
related their difficulty with chronic pain and
managing patients with unrealistic pain
expectations. The residents were questioned
as to whether they believed that podiatrists

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and surgeons, in general, were contributing
to the opioid epidemic. In each of the three
categories (surgeons of any background or
specialty, podiatrists, and the respondents
themselves), more than half the residents
were unsure about the contribution of those
in the category. Another third of the residents
believed that podiatrists and surgeons,
in general, were contributing to an equal
extent, while feeling that they as residents
were not contributing to the epidemic, an
indication that the residents may not fully
appreciate the role they play in this public
health issue.
In an effort to improve the residents' confidence surrounding pain management, they
attended a half-day seminar in conjunction
with the 2017 MPMS Spring Meeting covering topics of pain management, addiction
recognition, and legal aspects of prescribing opioids. A pocket-sized reference card
regarding these topics was created and distributed to the residents during the seminar.
While the residents believed that this seminar
was helpful, they requested further dedicated
time during their residency programs, for
themselves and for their attendings, to learn
more about pain management.
Dr. Sundling will be
moving to Holland,
MI, to start her clinical
career at Northwood
Foot and Ankle
Center and is hoping
to continue her work on combating the
opioid epidemic, a major public health issue
nationwide. For additional opioid resources,
visit www.apma.org/opioids. If you are a
third-year resident with a strong interest in
public health, bookmark www.apma.org/TDI
and check back later this fall for application
information.
http://www.facebook.com/TheAPMA http://www.apma.org/opioids http://www.youtube.com/user/TheAPMA http://www.google.com/+APMAorgCommunity http://www.apma.org/TDI http://www.pinterest.com/TheAPMA
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of APMA News - July/August 2017
