Description
Objectives:
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
1. Review and identify the history and pharmacology of benzodiazepines as a drug class
2. Summarize evidence-based indications for short-term prescribed use of benzodiazepines
3. Introduce tools for the diagnosis and management of benzodiazepine withdrawal and benzodiazepine use disorder
4. Implement approaches to structured benzodiazepine tapers, motivational enhancement, and collaborative care in the management of benzodiazepine dependency
Description:
As frontline healthcare providers, managing benzodiazepine therapy requires a delicate balance between acute clinical utility and long-term patient safety. This webinar provides a comprehensive, evidence-based examination into the pharmacology and history of benzidiazepines; and clarifying when short-term prescription is clinically indicated. This webinar is designed for immediate clinical application, so you will learn to utilize validated diagnostic tools for identifying benzodiazepine use disorder, manage withdrawal protocols, and safely execute structured, patient-centered tapering strategies. By integrating motivational enhancement techniques and collaborative care models into your practice, you will leave equipped with the practical, actionable skills necessary to confidently navigate benzodiazepine dependency and optimize patient outcomes. Join our addictions specialist, who is the Co-Medical Director for the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use, Dr. Paxton Bach for this valuable webinar.
Who Should Attend?:
• Primary Care, Community Mental Health, ER, & Urgent Care Physicians
• Nurse Practitioners & Nurses in Primary Care, Community Mental Health, ER, & Urgent Care Settings
• Staff in Mental Health Settings: Nurses, Psychologists, & Social Workers
• Staff in Addictions, Harm Reduction, & Detoxification Settings
• Intake & Frontline Staff in MH & Addictions; Managers and Educators
• Professional Staff in Correctional & Forensic Settings
Paxton Bach, MD, MSc, ABIM, FRCPC, FASAM is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and a general internist and addiction medicine physician at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, BC. He also serves as the Co-Medical Director for the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use, and is the Director of the BCCSU Clinical Addiction Medicine Fellowship Program.
In addition to his clinical and educational roles, Dr. Bach holds a Health Professional-Investigator Award from Michael Smith Health Research BC, the BC Centre on Substance Use, and the St. Paul’s Foundation, with a research interest focusing on the epidemiology and treatment of opioid and stimulant use disorders. He is the site PI for the British Columbia site of the ASCME trial (Addition of high dose Stimulant and engagement-focused Contingency management, alone and in combination, to treatment-as-usual for the management of Methamphetamine use disorder), is a clinical research mentor for the International Collaborative Addiction Medicine Research Fellowship, and is involved in a number of ongoing research collaborations within Canada and the United States.
Dr. Bach is certified as a specialist in General Internal Medicine through the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and an Addiction Medicine specialist through the International Society of Addiction Medicine and the American Board of Preventative Medicine.
