Posted on September 11, 2024 by Katelyn Juarez
Left to right: Leticia Bland, Adrienne Lindsey, Stacy Ogbeide, and Heather Trepal
Heather Trepal, Ph.D., LPC-S, professor in the UTSA Department of Counseling and associate dean for Academic Program and Student Success, is collaborating with a team of researchers in the School of Health Professions at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio), which was awarded a grant of $759,300 by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency.
The agency is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that leads public health efforts to advance the nation’s behavioral health.
Trepal will be working alongside three UT Health San Antonio researchers, principal investigator Leticia Bland, DHSc, MPAS, PA-C, assistant professor and director of didactic education and outcomes assessment in the UT Health San Antonio Department of Physician Assistant Studies; Adrienne Lindsey, DBH, MA, assistant professor and director of the Center for Substance Use Training and Telementoring at Be Well Texas, UT Health San Antonio’s statewide substance use treatment initiative; and Stacy A. Ogbeide, PsyD, ABPP, associate professor of Family & Community Medicine and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and assistant dean for faculty in the Office for Faculty in the Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio.
The collaboration on the three-year project, “Substance Use Education in the Interprofessional Setting (SEIS)”, will address the shortage of trained substance use disorder providers by training 92 physician assistant and clinical psychology students from UT Health San Antonio and clinical mental health counseling students from UTSA using an interprofessional, evidence-based curriculum developed for the project.
The training program will feature online synchronous and asynchronous modules that focus on improving students’ knowledge of providing substance use disorder (SUD) screening, assessment, intervention, treatment, and support recovery services.
“Faculty, preceptors, and field supervisors will also be supported throughout the ongoing faculty development focused on delivering SUD education to trainees in a variety of healthcare settings,” said Ogbeide.
Biopsychosocial Aspects of Addictions Counseling is a required class for students in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program at UTSA and the partnership with UT Health San Antonio provides new opportunities, “Our students will have access to state-of-the-field information and training from experts at UT Health San Antonio,” said Trepal.
“Interprofessional training is so important in behavioral health,” said Trepal. “We are excited to partner on this important effort.”
— Katelyn Juarez
