The Aesthetic Society has partnered with the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIAAA, to encourage physicians to screen for alcohol use disorders. NIAAA’s interactive video training program demonstrates quick and effective strategies for screening patients for heavy drinking and helping them to cut down or quit. NIAAA Director Ting-Kai Li, M.D. says “We want to make evidence-based techniques for assessing and managing at-risk drinking widely available to clinicians so that more people with alcohol use problems will get the help they need.”
The online program features four 10-minute video case scenarios, each led by an expert clinician who offers insights and engages viewers in considering different strategies for treatment and follow-up. CME/CE credit for physicians and nurses is provided through Medscape.com.
The program trains clinicians how to:
- Ask patients about alcohol use
- Assess heavy drinkers for alcohol use disorders
- Help at-risk drinkers to cut back to safer drinking levels
- Help patients with alcohol use disorders to quit, including prescribing newer, effective medications for dependence when indicated
“As physicians, we see the serious impact that excessive alcohol use has on patients, their families and public safety,” said Ronald M. Davis, M.D., president of the American Medical Association. “Scientific evidence shows if we can prevent alcohol consumption from becoming a problem, we can help stop thousands, even millions, of alcohol-related diseases and injuries. The AMA encourages physicians to learn how to conduct screening and brief interventions for at-risk drinking behavior and how to identify and treat alcoholism.”
Click to access the program.
To earn 1 Category One AMA PRA™ credit, take the CME exam included in the program. Begin by clicking on the link above.