A Fast Track Open Access article published in the Health Behavior and Policy Review Journal.

Authors:

Kathryn Lawler
Abigail Strauss, BS
Allison Kaczmarek, MPH, PhD
Mary P. Martinasek, RRT, MPH, PhD

Objective:

In this study, we aimed to explore current physician assistant (PA) student and alumni attitudes, knowledge, and perceptions towards recreational and medical marijuana.

Methods:

We conducted a cross-sectional study with PA students and alumni (N = 62) from a mid-sized university in the southeastern United States. We used an online QualtricsTM survey of 40 questions pertaining to both medical and recreational marijuana.

Results:

When asked about counseling patients on medical marijuana only 50.8% felt comfortable. Even fewer were comfortable with discussing drug interactions (39%). Participants felt that edibles were the safest route of administration (46.8%). The majority felt patient counseling should be incorporated into health sciences courses (79.7%). There was a statistically significant association between their knowledge and their comfort in answering questions about marijuana (p < .001) and between their knowledge and their comfort in addressing drug interactions (p = .005).

Conclusions:

Our results align with previous research concluding that a greater amount of marijuana education should be incorporated into healthcare professionals’ curricula.

Source: Health Behavior and Policy Review
Publisher: Paris Scholar Publishing Ltd.
Article Link: https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/psp/hbpr/pre-prints/content-psp_hbpr_1113