In response to the revised SC PA Practice Act, signed into law on March 15, 2006 by Governor Sanford, the Medical University of SC (MUSC) PA program hosted “Appropriate Prescribing of Controlled Substances,” which provided 15 hours of continuing medical education to many of the state’s PAs. The Board of Medical Examiners recommended that PAs be required to obtain additional training related to prescribing controlled substances in their draft of the revised practice act.  At the request of the BME, an MUSC faculty member submitted a proposal for the additional 15 hour training course, which was approved by the BME and served as the model for the recent conference. While the College of Health Professions was between semesters, the PA Program used the resources available in the new state-of-the-art educational facility to provide the educational opportunity on May 15 and 16th.  The conference faculty, experts from a variety of disciplines, were recruited from MUSC, the University of South Carolina, McLeod Regional Medical Center, SC Bureau of Drug Control, Drug Enforcement Agency, and a leading biotechnology company.

 

The response to the course offering by the PAs of South Carolina was amazing. With less than two months notice to the practicing PAs of South Carolina the PA program CME committee anticipated that only 10 – 20% of the practicing PAs could clear their schedule to attend this CME. However, the conference had 150 SC practicing PAs attend from the approximately 450 licensed PAs in the state. It is noteworthy that 33% of the PAs in the state attended this conference.

 

The conference covered a broad range of topics relating to the use of controlled substances and techniques for preventing drug diversion.  Lecturers discussed the role of controlled substances in the management of acute and chronic pain , anxiety, insomnia, neuropathies, cancer, addiction, attention deficit disorder, obesity, narcolepsy, common gastrointestinal disorders, as well as, presentations of state and federal laws that govern controlled substances. The feedback from the attendees demonstrated that the conference was successful in covering these important topics, and the attendees noted their increased awareness of the key indications, contraindications, and responsibilities related to this expanded prescriptive privilege over schedule III – V agents.

 

The MUSC PA Program is diligently working on preparing a web-based course on “Appropriate Prescribing of Controlled Substances.”  The program hopes to complete this course for any practicing PAs in South Carolina who were unable to attend this conference.  PAs who participate in this web-based educational program would be able to  meet the additional educational requirements set forth in the revised SC PA Practice Act and be eligible for expanded prescriptive authority over schedule  III-V controlled substances.

 

The conference planners became aware that the Drug Enforcement Agency had not been notified of the revised PA Practice Act, which may delay the implementation of expanded prescriptive authority while the DEA’s legal staff in Washington, D.C. review the new legislation. Following approval of the legislation, the DEA will then permit rescheduling to include schedules III and IV for eligible PAs, according to Agent Cheri Crowley. The conference planners communicated with the BME and on its behalf provided all necessary paperwork to Agent Crowley before she left the conference. Agent Crowley assured the planners that this step expedited the review process.