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Le Moyne College has received a federal grant of $62,500 to develop a two-pronged approach to training on opioid use and abuse. The first part is to develop and pilot a 10-hour comprehensive multidisciplinary learning module for Le Moyne’s physician assistant (PA) and family nurse practitioner (FNP) students, while the second component of the grant will be used to enhance community-based primary care training for Cortland County and another rural county that has not yet been named. The grant is one of only 60 in the nation awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“The positives that can come from this grant in helping to deal with the incredible rise in the heroin and pharmaceutical opioid addiction are immeasurable,” said Margaret Wells, Ph.D., interim dean of the Purcell School of Professional Studies, which houses Le Moyne’s PA and FNP master's programs. “As an institution that is deeply connected and invested in the community, we are thrilled to be able to take on a leadership role in regard to this health crisis.”

Collaborating with the community is a major component of what will come from the grant. Mary Springston PA-C, director of Le Moyne’s Physician Assistant Studies Program, and Elizabeth Mercer, PA-C, a professor of practice in the program, will oversee development of that component. It will be a half-day continuing education event targeting PAs, FNPs and others in the healthcare field; among the elements of the outreach will be an overview of the opioid crisis, comprehensive pain assessment, guidelines for management of pain, and tips for developing community projects to tackle the crisis. The program would be hosted at Le Moyne in Fall 2017.

“This epidemic has impacted rural New York communities at an alarming and disproportionate rate, with many counties seeing provider shortages and limited access to health care resources,” said Springston, who worked closely with Mercer on the grant application process. “This funding will allow us to develop vital outreach that will make a meaningful and significant impact on those who witness the effects of opioids on a daily basis.”

The training module will focus on pain management, addiction recognition and treatment; key areas would include opioid basics, opioid overdose; CDC prescription guidelines; prescription drug monitoring program; and an overview of pain evaluation and management from both psychiatry and anesthesia.

The curriculum component will be developed collaboratively by Raymond Jannetti, M.D., and Anthony Vinciquerra, M.D. Dr. Jannetti is currently the medical director of the Tully Hill Chemical Dependency Treatment Center, and is triple board certified in addiction medicine, family medicine and anesthesiology, while Dr. Vinciquerra is a diplomat of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, as well as a distinguished fellow of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Both are currently teaching at Le Moyne College.

Once developed, both components would be marketed to a wider audience. To educate others about the community outreach, the grant will pay for two speakers to present at the annual educational conference of the New York State Society of Physician Assistants (NYSSPA), taking place in Tarrytown, N.Y. in October. The training module would be made available to other PA programs nationally, including the possibility of presenting to the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) annual forum, where it would reach hundreds of PA educators.

“This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number T0BHP28576 entitled, Primary Care Training and Enhancement ($250,000, 0% financed with nongovernmental sources). This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.”