Developing a national undergraduate medical education pain management and substance use disorder curriculum to address the opioid crisis: a program evaluation pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Pain and addiction are one of the most common reasons for adults to seek health care, yet educational programs focused on pain are often underrepresented in medical school curricula. In January 2021, the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC) launched an online national, bilingual, competency-based curriculum for undergraduate medical (UGME) students in pain management and substance use in response to the opioid crisis and to bridge the content gaps in programs across Canada. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the pilot of this national curriculum. METHODS: UGME students, from across Canada, participated in the program evaluation by completing online pre- and post-program surveys that assessed the influence of the curriculum on participants' knowledge as well as the value, usability, and feasibility of this curriculum. RESULTS: Participants' perceived confidence in their new knowledge and in utilizing resources required to maintain their knowledge significantly increased (75% and 51% respectively). Their perceived knowledge that addressed the 72 learning objectives within the curriculum significantly increased from pre- to post-program. Over 90% of participants reported that the curriculum was valuable, feasible, and usable. The most frequently discussed program strengths were the clear and comprehensive content, interactive and well-organized design, and relevance of curriculum content for future clinical practice. The overall weakness of the curriculum included the length, repetition of content, the lack of clarity and relevance of the assessment questions, end-user technology issues, and French translation discrepancies. Participant's recommendations for improving the curriculum included streamlining content, addressing technology issues, and enhancing the clarity and relevance of assessment questions embedded within each of the modules. CONCLUSION: Participants agreed that an online pain management and substance use curriculum is a valuable, usable, and feasible learning opportunity. Given the severity of the opioid crisis in Canada, these online modules provide a curriculum that can be integrated into existing UGME programs or can provide self-directed learning.

The influence of birth date and place of development on youth sport participation.

Previous research highlights the critical role that contextual factors play in shaping athlete development. The purpose of the present study was to investigate two of these contextual factors: birth date (known as the relative age effect, RAE) and city of development as determinants of participation in a sample of youth ice hockey players. The sample included 146,424 athletes registered with Ontario youth ice hockey between the 2004 and 2010 seasons. Chi-square statistics determined a significant RAE in youth ice hockey. Findings also revealed a significant association between small cities of development and increased youth ice hockey participation. Finally, there was no evidence of an interaction between relative age and city of development. The characteristics of smaller communities that may facilitate sport participation across all youth are discussed, along with recommendations for future research.