The National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Drug Abuse is offering two free, interactive, online CME activities about responsible opioid prescribing practices, and best practices for assessing, preventing, and addressing prescription opioid abuse. In these CMEs, NIDA encourages clinicians to use its NIDAMED resources which are specially designed for use in clinical practice to assess patients’ drug use and possible referral to drug treatment. Click here to learn more about the CMEs.

Community Care of North Carolina is holding Project Lazarus Training: A Guide to Rational Opioid Prescribing for Chronic Pain. The training sessions will help prescribers of pain medications to understand the multi-dimensional character of chronic pain as a distinct clinical entity; identify the role of opioids in the safe and effective management of chronic pain; use rational prescribing to provide adequate pain management while minimizing the risk of abuse of controlled medications and intervene effectively when misuse or abuse of medications occur. Training sessions will be held in Boone, NC on October 30th. To register, click here.

The Institute for Medical Quality (IMQ) and the PACE Program at the University of California, San Diego are pleased to announce the addition of keynote speaker Nancy Dickey, MD, family practitioner and the first female president of the American Medical Association, to the upcoming Stepping Up to Leadership conference.

The Stepping Up to Leadership program trains medical staff leaders in issues of communication, problem-solving, and improving outcomes for patients and staff. For the first time, Stepping Up to Leadership is available as a national event, with events in San Antonio, Texas (November 7-9, 2013); San Diego, California (March 6-8, 2014); and Washington, DC (May 8-10, 2014).  A grant from the Physicians Foundation allows IMQ and PACE to offer Stepping Up to Leadership at prices as low as $595 for three days, making this an unbeatable opportunity. To register, click here.