After the National Governors Association met with President Barack Obama yesterday to discuss reducing opioid overdoses, one governor is utilizing a different technique to fight the nationwide opioid abuse epidemic, according to The Morning Call.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) wants medical schools and dental schools throughout his state to assist in the fight against opioid overdoses.
Gov. Wolf is pushing for schools to require their students to take a course on pain management and addiction. He believes the tactic could be especially useful in Pennsylvania, since a high number of physicians receive medical training in Philadelphia.
"I don't think this is something you need to legislate," Gov. Wolf said. "I think medical schools, like the rest of us, are waking up to this problem and they want to make sure their graduates are prepared for what they're going to see out there."
This approach is adopted from a similar one used by Massachusetts.
According to Gov. Wolf's office, heroin and opioid overdose are the main causes of accidental death in the state of Pennsylvania.