The Naloxone Project: Impact of Opioid Overdose Response Training on Medical Students’ Knowledge and Confidence

Background Early and practical education on naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal medication, is not commonly included in the curriculum of pre-clinical medical students. This study investigates how Opioid Overdose Response Training (OORT) improves opioid overdose recognition, naloxone administration, and opioid epidemic knowledge in pre-clinical medical students. Objectives This study aims to expand on the existing literature examining how OORT can supplement pre-clinical medical education regarding opioid reversal. Methods From 2022 to 2024, 187 pre-clinical medical students at the University of South Florida attended OORT with naloxone distribution. Students completed pre- and post-training surveys to subjectively rate their confidence and knowledge regarding opioid overdoses and naloxone administration. The Related Samples Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test was used to assess differences in median responses. The Mann-Whitney U Test was used to compare pre-training responses between participants with and without prior OORT experience. Results After OORT, participants showed significant improvement in opioid overdose recognition (p < 0.001), naloxone administration (p < 0.001), and knowledge of the opioid epidemic (p < 0.001). The perceived importance of teaching OORT to the local community (p = 0.001) and teaching OORT to pre-clinical medical students (p = 0.012) remained high. Students with prior OORT experience (13.6%) reported significantly higher confidence in recognizing the signs of an opioid overdose (p < 0.001), administering naloxone (p < 0.001), and understanding the opioid epidemic (p < 0.001) compared to those without prior exposure. Additionally, they rated the importance of OORT for the community significantly higher (p = 0.047). Conclusion Pre-clinical medical students reported higher confidence and knowledge pertaining to the opioid epidemic and naloxone administration following OORT paired with naloxone distribution. Future research should investigate the long-term retention of OORT content as well as the added value of integrating naloxone distribution into training.