Interest in prescribing buprenorphine among resident and attending physicians at an urban teaching clinic

Background: Opioid use disorders are a major medical and public health concern. Buprenorphine is approved for the treatment of opioid use disorders; however, a shortage of physicians prescribing buprenorphine is a significant barrier to treatment access. The aims of this study were to evaluate opinions of internal medicine attending and resident physicians about buprenorphine and assess interest in becoming waivered to prescribe. Methods: Internal medicine resident and attending physicians at a primary care clinic in a large academic hospital were invited to complete surveys. The study sample was composed of physicians who were not waivered to prescribe buprenorphine. Survey data included demographic information, level of training, buprenorphine waiver status, interest in becoming waivered to prescribe buprenorphine, and beliefs about buprenorphine for treatment of opioid use disorders. High interest in becoming waivered was defined as a Likert response >3 (1 = No interest, 5 = Very interested). Results: Of the 44 physician respondents, 39 were not waivered to prescribe buprenorphine and constituted the sample; of those, 27 were residents and 12 were attending physicians. Twenty-six of the 39 nonwaivered respondents (66.7%) had high interest in becoming waivered. Those with high interest in becoming waivered were significantly more likely to be younger (P = .007) and to strongly believe in buprenorphine effectiveness (P = .023). Discussion: Most physicians in this academic training program showed high interest in prescribing buprenorphine, and belief in buprenorphine effectiveness was associated with high interest in becoming waivered.