Female medical students reported less confidence than their male counterparts to manage and treat patients with substance use disorder, data from one institution presented at the Women in Medicine Summit show. “Research has shown that self-assessments help students to reflect and identify gaps in their learning,” Sabrina Dass, a medical student at Wayne State University in Detroit, told attendees. “However, it's worth distinguishing between self-assessment and self-confidence, which has a mismatch with performance.” Data presented at the Women in Medicine Summit indicated that female medical students reported less confidence than their male counterparts to manage and treat patients with substance use disorder. However, more more women than men said students should cover less of a naloxone kit’s cost. Dass and colleagues reviewed responses from 105 medical students at Wayne State University School of Medicine (67.6% women) who completed a baseline and 6-month follow-up survey of their confidence in caring for future patients with substance use disorder (SUD) and thoughts on naloxone treatment after undergoing SUD curriculum. The specific statements on the Likert-scale based survey were: “I receive all the training I need for treating patients with SUDs in medical school.” “I know how to assess the patient's risk for SUDs.” “I know how to identify and describe potential pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments for pain.” “I understand the difference between all the SUD treatment options.” “I feel confident in preparing evidence-based and patient-centered pain management and SUD treatment plans for patients with acute and chronic pain. “I can recognize the risk factors for, and signs of, opioid overdose and correctly administer naloxone.” “I can recognize signs of SUDs in health care professionals and identify ways to help.” “I know how to evaluate a patient's pain.” “I feel confident in my skills to provide patient-centered counseling and behavioral change.” “I recognize that SUDs are chronic diseases and will use the chronic disease model in ongoing assessment and management of the patient.” “I recognize my own and/or societal stigmatization and biases against individuals with SUDs and associated medication-assisted treatments.” “I can identify and incorporate relevant data regarding social determinants of health into treatment planning for SUDs.” “Students should pay full cost for naloxone.” “Naloxone cost should be subsidized by school.” “Naloxone should be free to students.” “Students should all receive naloxone training during [undergraduate medical education].” “Should students receive a naloxone kit?” Responses to the first seven statements indicated that men had higher self-assessment scores of their knowledge base and confidence than women, researchers said. More women than men said students should cover less of the kit’s cost and more men than women said students should pay full cost or for a subsidized kit. However, there were no gender differences in whether students thought they should receive naloxone training during medical school, or that students should receive naloxone kit, researchers found. “These gender differences follow a pattern observed in prior studies of female students underestimating their clinical skills and knowledge compared to their male counterparts,” Dass said. “Further investigation into the accuracy of self-assessment, and its association with clinical competency in treating patients with SUD, is warranted.” Source
