Small Session: Dealing with Drug-Seeking Behavior

After showing a brief ER clip featuring a patient who threatens the ER docs with a gun to get an analgesic drug injection, there's a presentation on drug addiction. They mention 2 articles, Addiction Part 1 and Addiction Part 2, published in American Family Physician that are highly recommended.

They are doing a simulated encounter...
It's a packed room yet volunteers are hesitant. A 2nd year med student has volunteered, but was then replaced by a "more experienced" resident.

The point of the exercise, which featured two patients with different backgrounds an appearance (i.e. Biker and lawyer), was to highlight how backgound cannot necessarily predict likelihood of drug seeking behavior.

It's helpful to see this behavior in a simulated setting so that the experience is dynamic and real, yet can be paused and analyzed by our trainers. I would love to see this kinf of session done in a small group setting at school. Perhaps HBM could feature more simulations so that students can practice both sides of the encounter and get inside the psychology of both roles.