Sacramento – On March 20, 2023, the California Academy of Family Physicians (CAFP) and CAFP Foundation announced a significant effort to improve care to patients with substance use disorder (SUD) across California: the 2023-24 California Residency Program Collaborative (CRPC). Twenty-five medical residency programs were selected for their ability to address the opioid crisis through innovation and collaboration. This work is vital, as over 7,000 Californians died of an opioid overdose in 2021. Death rates in certain parts of California are among the highest in the country.*
Both rural and urban residency programs, with an emphasis on underserved and vulnerable communities were selected out of 36 applicants. Programs focus on education, outreach, and treatment through local strategies. For example, multiple programs will increase training around providing buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD), one program will create a youth advisory committee to help guide effective care, multiple programs will increase fentanyl test strip and safe syringe supply distribution efforts in their clinics, and multiple programs will improve care to their unhoused populations via street medicine teams.
Support for CAFP’s CRPC grants comes from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) State Opioid Response (SOR) III grant program via California’s Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Expansion Project.
* California Overdose Surveillance Dashboard, California Department of Public Health. https://skylab.cdph.ca.gov/ODdash/
