This content was published: May 9, 2018. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
New course explores Medication Assisted Treatment of opioid-use disorders
Story by Mike Phillips.
Portland Community College’s Institute for Health Professionals is offering a new learning tool this spring to combat Oregon’s growing opioid epidemic, which Governor Kate Brown declared a public health crisis in February.
Instructor Nick Reguero will teach the day-long seminar on Saturday, May 19, exploring a strategy called Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT). The cost is $119. MAT is the use of medications in combination with behavioral approaches and therapies to offer holistic treatment for individuals suffering from ongoing opiate misuse. While many people have been helped by MAT, it is not without controversy. Many question how people grappling with addiction can take a drug and still be clean.
“I offer MAT in my work at Central City Concern, and it gives people a second chance to live healthy, productive lives,” Reguero said.
The United States is experiencing an unprecedented opioid epidemic. Since 1999 the rate of overdose deaths involving opiates has nearly quadrupled, with more than 165,000 people dying from prescription opioid overdoses. The year 2014 saw the most deaths on record due to drug overdoses, with an astounding six out of ten involving an opiate.
MAT is one of the tools available in the fight against opiate misuse. Reguero encourages people to take his course to gain a broader understanding of how to support recovery of those who have struggled with opiate misuse.
Details:
What: “Medication Assisted Treatment of Opioid Use Disorders”
When: 9 a.m. to 3:50 p.m., Saturday, May 19.
Cost: $119.
Location: CLIMB Center, 1626 SE Water Ave.
For more information, call (971) 722-6633, or email amy.evans3@pcc.edu. To register for the class, visit www.pcc.edu/enroll/registration
I work in the medical field and would love to have attended this seminar. Is there going to be another one soon. Or maybe something similar around the Opioid epidemic.