Individuals from more than 100 countries, including Brazil, the U.S. and Canada have enrolled in the online course titled “OpioidX: The Opioid Crisis in America.” The course was created by researchers, physicians, legal experts and individuals affected by the opioid epidemic and teaches enrollees actionable steps they can take to prevent opioid overdose deaths and help affected individuals obtain the treatment they need.
Officials said the course will provide continuing education credits to professionals employed in human resources fields. Administrators are working to grant education credits to those engaged in other occupations as well, according to the article.
The program’s launch comes roughly one year after a group of Harvard medical students requested changes to the school’s curriculum to better equip students to treat opioid addiction. School administrative officials previously rejected the students’ requests, stating the medical school did not “agree with the idea of taking pledges with what to put in [the] curriculum,” according to the report.
“I think [the course] is a way of taking a deeper look at a topic that is getting a lot of press but without a lot of depth,” said Siva Sundaram, a second-year Harvard medical student who was part of the coalition of students that mobilized to create an opioid education course. He now serves as a discussion moderator for OpioidX. “It’s a way to learn about what it is like to experience opioid addiction … and a way to humanize the person, to help fight some of the stigma still pulling us back,” he told The Harvard Crimson.
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