Simple Can Be Effective: A Brief Naloxone Training in Preclinical Medical Education

Background Opioid overdose remains a leading cause of preventable mortality in the United States. Early education on overdose recognition and naloxone administration is recommended in medical training, yet its implementation in preclinical curricula is often limited by time and resource constraints. This study evaluated the efficacy of a brief, didactic naloxone training integrated into a mandatory preclinical wellness session in improving first-year medical students’ confidence in opioid knowledge, overdose recognition, and naloxone administration. Methods The first-year medical students at a single U.S. medical school were invited to complete anonymous pre- and post-training surveys surrounding a 12-minute naloxone training video. Survey items used a five-point Likert scale assessing confidence in opioid knowledge, overdose recognition, appropriate response actions, and understanding of naloxone. Pre- and post-survey responses were analyzed as independent samples using two-tailed Mann-Whitney U tests. Effect sizes were calculated using rank-biserial correlation. Results A total of 151 pre-survey and 133 post-survey responses were analyzed. Post-training responses demonstrated significantly higher confidence across all survey questions, including defining opioids, recognizing opioid overdose, knowing appropriate actions to take, and understanding naloxone (all p<0.001). Large effect sizes were observed for these outcomes (rank-biserial correlation range: 0.65-0.77). Participants also reported high confidence in their ability to administer intranasal naloxone following the intervention (median (IQR): 5 (4-5)). Conclusions A brief, resource-efficient naloxone training significantly improved preclinical medical students’ self-reported confidence in opioid overdose recognition and naloxone administration. This intervention demonstrates a scalable approach for integrating harm-reduction education into preclinical medical curricula and beyond.