A Novel Online Curriculum and Coaching Strategy to Expand the Addiction Medicine Workforce

The Michigan Collaborative Addiction Resources and Education System (MI CARES) was designed to help physicians achieve addiction medicine (AM) certification through a practice pathway combining experiential hours and a board exam. This asynchronous, self-directed online curriculum follows the knowledge template for the board exam, including continuing medical education credits. The program also offers 1:1 coaching support to train physicians on proper documentation of experiential hours on the application for the AM board exam. The curriculum outline was based on the Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation (ADDIE) instructional design model, while the align, get set, iterate and implement, leverage, evaluate (AGILE) process simplified production and publication of the e-learning modules. In all, 231 physicians from 13 American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) specialties in 37 U.S. states were enrolled in MI CARES as of Oct. 31, 2020. More participants visited the module the longer it was available. Three early program adopters were designated to sit for the 2019 board exam, while 51 participants passed it in 2020. "As MI CARES has shown, coaching and asynchronous online modules provide informational support that can help physicians to successfully complete the practice pathway application process," the authors conclude. "This model should be explored for replication as other subspecialties are identified by the ABMS and the American Osteopathic Association."

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