Continuing Medical Education

Course Information

The objectives of this course are to meet the requirements of state licensing boards and to:

1. Review existent and new federal and state mandates pertaining to the prescribing of controlled substances;
2. Promote the understanding of parameters of prescribing to which a provider must adhere;
3. Discuss appropriate methods of documenting medical records to maintain compliance with the regulations;
4. Increase awareness of violations and penalties in instances of insurance fraud by prescribers;
5. Assist the practitioner in identifying scams of the drug abuser and appropriate ordering and interpreting drug screens;
6. Clarify issues of prescribing controlled drugs for sexual favors and other biomedical ethics issues; and
7. Help the practitioner formulate informed consent and treatment agreements.

Format

Since 1981 healthcare providers from the United States and Canada have traveled to New Jersey to take this "Proper Prescribing" course. Now, due to the threat of terrorism, restricted and inconvenient travel and the state of the economy, it is more difficult to afford air travel, hotel, meals, and the fee for a 5½-day course while also losing practice income. To remedy this situation, the original course has been compressed to a minimum of 35 hours and is now available on a multi-disc set of DVDs. When played on a DVD player at home in comfort, safety and privacy, the registrant will actually hear and see the lecturer as if he/she were sitting in a classroom. The personality and inflections of the expert faculty still engage the viewer. With each MRAP Disc Set the registrant receives a manual and teaching tools containing all the highlights of the Microsoft PowerPoint® slides for each lecture. This can be used to review for the examination and then saved as a reference source for future questions, problems arising in practice and for patient education.

Advantages to the Board

• There is no conflict of interest, personnel or cost involvement to the board office.
• Statistics tabulated and published periodically.
• Sanctioned healthcare providers can take the course immediately.
• Course content is updated periodically according to new scientific knowledge.

Copyright Note: The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey - School of Osteopathic Medicine is the sole owner of the content of the DVDs and manual and holds the copyright thereto. Any attempt to duplicate, use or sell that content in whole or in part, except as prescribed in the course agreement is prohibited. Violators will be prosecuted.

Course Description

The course, held in New Jersey from 1981 to 2003, educated 703 healthcare providers who were mainly sanctioned by their state licensing boards for injudicious prescribing of controlled substances.

The original course was 25 hours, but because of new Central Nervous System (CNS) stimulants, this course is now a 35-hour program. The fee for the increased 35-hour course remains the same.

Anorectic drugs for weight loss, attention deficit disorders and narcolepsy are drugs that are subject to both legal and illegal prescribing and use.

This course is no longer just for mandated remedial education. It has now become a primer for all practitioners in the appropriate use of controlled substances. The urgent focus is now on:

1. Recognition of pain, anxiety, stimulation and addiction;
2. Appropriate history and physical examination;
3. Diagnosis;
4. Choices of treatment;
5. The use of non-opioid, opiate/opioid, anxiolytic and stimulant drugs;
6. The basic knowledge of pharmacology in a clinical setting;
7. Drug abuse with or without the combination of alcohol or other depressants;
8. Medical errors;
9. New laws governing the prescribing of controlled drugs;
10. Medical record keeping; and
11. Drug testing in the office setting.

Course Topics

1. Course History & Purpose and How Best to Utilize MRAP
   William Vilensky, DO, RPh,  FASAM, FAOAAM, FAAFS
   
2. Pain Management - Definitions, Classification and Categories
   William Vilensky, DO, RPh 
   
3. Controlled Substances
   William Vilensky, DO, RPh
   
4. Drug Dependence, Tolerance, Abuse, and Addiction
   William Vilensky, DO, RPh
   
5. Good and Safe Practices - Viewpoint of a State Licensing Agency
   Joan Gelber, JD
   
6. Opiate/Opioid Pharmacology - Mechanism, Forms, Different Types
   William Vilensky, DO, RPh
   
7. Pharmacological Treatment of Acute Pain
   William Vilensky, DO, RPh
8. Pharmacological Treatment of Chronic Pain
   Ann Berger, RN, MSN, MD
   
9. Backache
   William Vilensky, DO, RPh 
   
10. Headache
    Loretta Mueller, DO, FACOFP
    
11. Anxiolytics - The Benzodiazepines
    William Vilensky, DO, RPh
    
12. C.N.S. Stimulants for ADHD and Narcolepsy
    William Vilensky, DO, RPh
    
13. Biomedical Ethics
    Edmund Erde, PhD
    
14. The Impaired Physician
    David Canavan, M.D.
    
15. Medical Record Keeping
    William Vilensky, DO, RPh
    
16. Recognizing the Drug Abuser and Addict
    William Vilensky, DO, RPh
    
17. Conclusions
    William Vilensky, DO, RPh