Evaluation of the “Basic Training Course for Physicians on the Assessment and Management of Drug Dependence”, 2013-2017

This paper documents and evaluates the Philippine training course for physicians on the assessment and management of drug dependence to provide a model by which other groups may approach capacity development for drug-dependence rehabilitation. Using a case study approach, training-related documents and records for all training activities conducted between 2013 and 2017 were retrieved and reviewed to describe the training process and training outputs. The basic training course is a two-week, locally-developed program of five modules that covers the theoretical and practical aspects of the assessment and management of drug dependence. A total of 208 physicians from across the country were trained and accredited between 2013 and 2017. Paired-samples t-test on the examination scores of 136 participants showed that there was a significant difference in the pre-test (29.71 ± 3.95) and the post-test (40.31 ± 4.90) scores; t(135) = 22.4797, p = <0.0001.