Will Rutland, MD, JD, MPH, a second-year resident in the Yale Department of Psychiatry, has been appointed to serve on the Connecticut State Medical Society's (CSMS) Opioid Committee.
Rutland was nominated for the committee, a subgroup of CSMS leadership that collaborates with the American Medical Association and other state medical societies to address legislation and regulations that pertain to the opioid epidemic.
Members have worked on initiatives that range from developing effective drug monitoring programs, promoting medical education around opioid use and prescription, evaluating restrictions on treatment of opioid use disorder, and promoting legislation enabling access to the opioid antagonist naloxone.
Rutland said he hopes to strengthen the presence of both trainees and the populations they serve around opioid policy.
I believe that, by virtue of our hands-on work with individuals struggling with opioid use disorder, trainees bring a unique and valuable perspective to these conversations, and we can therefore act as a powerful conduit for the voices of our most vulnerable patients.
Will Rutland, MD, second-year resident, Yale Department of Psychiatry
"I believe that, by virtue of our hands-on work with individuals struggling with opioid use disorder, trainees bring a unique and valuable perspective to these conversations, and we can therefore act as a powerful conduit for the voices of our most vulnerable patients," he said.
CSMS provides educational programs and other services, and lobbies on behalf of its roughly 7,000 physician members on legislative matters.