Treating opioid addiction in rural family practice

Karen L. Smith MD, FAAFP

Solo Family Practice Physician, Raeford, NC
former President, North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians

Karen L. Smith MD, FAAFP kept discovering opioid addiction in the families she served in her independent, rural primary care practice. With few referral options and faced with growing need, Smith began providing medication-assisted treatment in her practice. MAT uses medication, counseling and behavioral therapies to treat substance use disorders and sustain recovery. Smith shares patient stories which led her to take on this challenge and the barriers a physician must overcome to provide MAT.