Document Type

Abstract

Publication Date

2-11-2026

Comments

Presented at the 2026 Scholarly Inquiry (SI) Research Project Symposium.

Abstract

Introduction: Over 1,413 unintentional opioid-related deaths occurred in Philadelphia in 2022,indicating a public health crisis. Medical students can assist in overdose responses, driving our question: how might we provide an education-focused opioid-overdose response kit for first-year JeffMD students to reduce stigma and improve clinical readiness for opioid-related emergencies? We hypothesize that a naloxone kit with educational materials will improve preparedness and empathy and reduce stigma toward people who use drugs (PUD) compared with standard naloxone training.

Methods: A needs assessment was conducted among first-year JeffMD’s class of 2029 using pre- and post-surveys administered before and after a naloxone training. Surveys assessed naloxone-use knowledge and attitudes toward PUD using the Opioid Overdose Knowledge Scale(OOKS) and Opioid Overdose Attitude Scale (OOAS). The next phase includes designing and prototype testing an education-focused overdose response kit, followed by implementation of the kit with the class of 2030 while using the same survey methodology.

Results: JeffMD’s training led to significant improvements in OOKS and OOAS scores(Cohen’s d = 0.88, p = 0.00016; d = 0.78, p = 0.0016), showing the largest gains in naloxone-useability (OOKS d = 1.01, p = 0.00013). Despite these improvements, knowledge gaps persisted, only 30.3% of students correctly identified naloxone’s duration of action post-training. OOAS subanalysis showed increased competence, but no significant change in concerns about intervening or readiness to intervene (p = 0.083; p = 0.071).

Discussion/Conclusions: The current JeffMD naloxone curriculum significantly improves overdose knowledge, recognition, and response ability. However, low post-training-survey performance on some knowledge-based questions and continued concerns and lack of readiness to intervene, particularly those with limited prior exposure to the opioid epidemic, point towards persistent gaps in student preparedness. This highlights the need for a targeted overdose response kit to address remaining knowledge gaps, reduce stigma, and increase student confidence in real-world overdose response.

Language

English

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