Olivia Riley
September 13, 2018
Who: Medical students, Doctors
What: are not taught how to deal with opioid addiction in patients
When: RIGHT NOW
Where: America
Why: Opioids are highly addictive, so when a doctor prescribes them to a patient to relieve pain, and the patient becomes dependent on the drug, the medical professional SHOULD know how to approach the situation.
In this
article, The New York Times’ Jan Hoffman addresses the fact that doctors and
medical students have not/ are not being taught how to manage chronic pain
patients who might be susceptible to substance abuse.
According
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, addiction to substances result
in about 632,000 deaths every year right here in America, yet, according to Dr. Kevin Kunz, only 15 out of
the 180 medical school programs teach substance abuse.
Treating
the patient doesn’t just depend on your knowledge of abuse, you also need to
understand how to address it and talk about it with your patient. Wording Effect is EVERYTHING, a simple use of the word "clean" can discourage patients to open up due to the impression that they are considered "dirty".
I agree that we need to do something about the opioid epidemic, considering how many stories you hear about addicts and also how you can find needles in most major cities if you look hard enough.
ReplyDeleteIt's a really interesting discussion because while legalizing the opioid would certainly make it easier to get treatment and take away business from drug dealers, it would also make it easier to get addicted to in the first place.
This is a really good article I just feel it went kind of quick. Maybe adding the 5W's into the article itself would make it seem more long and help to understand the article a little more.
ReplyDeleteIll make sure to adjust it :) thank you so much for your feedback
DeleteI think that some people would not be aware exactly of opioid epidemic is. So I suggest you to explain exactly where it is towards the very beginning. You did a really good job though!
ReplyDeleteokay awesome, thanks Aleksyia :)
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ReplyDeleteUGH. I hate that there isn't an easy way to edit a response. ANYway.
Delete"Dirty" VS "Clean"
We often forget that words matter, even on a subconscious level. I also think words matter when you are talking about people who truly have life-long chronic pain and people who are addicted but who are largely "functional." New legislature might effect those people differently.
For such a complex topic, I thought the point in the article was really clear though and that is that there isn't adequate education regarding substance abuse for practitioners in the medical field. Ignorance about addiction might be what allows people to respond judgmentally to addicts since they don't see the bigger picture.
I really liked your set up with this, I thought it was interesting that your 5w's were placed at the beginning instead of worked into the story itself but it still seemed to work for me. I enjoyed reading this!
ReplyDeleteI liked reading about your response to this article. I think pain medication is a good think if used properly, so I think considering substance abuse is necessary.
ReplyDeleteI liked this a lot! Good job! I thought it was a good idea how you used the 5w's, that really captured my attention. I find it scary how only around 15 schools teach about this, that's so crazy
ReplyDelete