title: Residents' experience of screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) as a clinical tool following practical application: A mixed-methods study.
abstract: Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT), an evidence-based validated system for providing early detection and brief treatment of substance use disorders, has been widely used in the training of medical residents across specialties at a number of sites. This article investigates the effectiveness of SBIRT training during short-term follow-up at Albany Medical Center, one of the initial Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grantees.
  
  
  
  Training outcomes were measured by training satisfaction following opportunities to apply SBIRT skills in clinical work, the rate at which these techniques were applied in clinical work, and the degree to which residents felt that the SBIRT training provided skills that were applicable to their practice. We examined differences in learning experience by postgraduate year and by program, and conducted a qualitative analysis in a convergent parallel mixed-methods design to elucidate barriers encountered by residents upon using SBIRT techniques in clinical practice.
  
  
  
  Residents remained highly satisfied with the training at 4-month follow-up, with 80.1% reporting that they had used SBIRT skills in their clinical work. Use of SBIRT techniques was high at 6-month follow-up as well, with 85.9% of residents reporting that they regularly screened their patients for substance use, 74.4% reporting that they had applied brief intervention techniques, and 78.2% indicating that SBIRT training had made them overall more effective in helping patients with substance use issues. Differences in application rates and satisfaction were found by specialty. Qualitative analyses indicated that residents encountered patient readiness and specific contextual factors, such as time constraints, externally imposed values, and clinical norms, as barriers to implementation.
  
  
  
  Despite encountering obstacles such as time constraints and patient readiness, residents utilized many of the skills they had learned during SBIRT training in clinical practice and reported finding these skills useful in their management of patients with substance use issues.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry , Albany Medical College , Albany , New York , USA.
authors.forename: A Jill
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Clemence
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry , Albany Medical College , Albany , New York , USA.
authors.forename: Victoria I
authors.initials: VI
authors.lastname: Balkoski
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry , Albany Medical College , Albany , New York , USA.
authors.forename: Minsun
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry , Albany Medical College , Albany , New York , USA.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Poston
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry , Albany Medical College , Albany , New York , USA.
authors.forename: Bianca M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Schaefer
authors.affiliation: b Center for Neuropharmacology and Neuroscience, Albany Medical College , Albany , New York , USA.
authors.forename: Isabelle M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Maisonneuve
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry , Albany Medical College , Albany , New York , USA.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bromley
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry , Albany Medical College , Albany , New York , USA.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lukowitsky
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry , Albany Medical College , Albany , New York , USA.
authors.forename: Portia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pieterse
authors.affiliation: c Department of Pediatrics , Albany Medical College , Albany , New York , USA.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Antonikowski
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry , Albany Medical College , Albany , New York , USA.
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Hamilton
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry , Albany Medical College , Albany , New York , USA.
authors.forename: Schekeva
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.affiliation: b Center for Neuropharmacology and Neuroscience, Albany Medical College , Albany , New York , USA.
authors.forename: Stanley D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Glick
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*
keywords: Brief intervention; SBIRT training; residents; substance use; substance use disorder