Special Topics and Series Events

SURGE develops new trainings in response to the changing issues faced by health professionals serving people who use substances. One example of this is the Wound and Skin and Soft Tissue Morbidity and Mortality Review Workgroup, established in collaboration with the SUPHR Program. The group began meeting bi-monthly in January 2023 to review cases and share information.

As a result of their work, the group published the Recommendations for Caring for Xylazine-Associated Wounds, which summarizes best practices for providing care to individuals with these types of wounds, and discussed these recommendations on a webinar on January 8, 2024.

Past Trainings

special topics
“It’s given me a better understanding of the landscape, and what others are doing, and also just how to understand patients struggling with opioid use disorder. I attended a case discussion on wound care [presented by Rachel McFadden, BSN, RN] for individuals that are struggling with opioid use disorder, and that was very helpful for me for multiple reasons. It was challenging…but I appreciated [Rachel’s] perspective, just how she looked at the whole person. I have a quote that she said that’s sitting on my desk. She was quoting someone else saying to...look at the W-H-O-L-E person instead of looking at the H-O-L-E in the person. When you’re looking at wounds, do you just focus on the wound and forget the person and everything that caused them to have this wound…how their life has been challenged emotionally and relationally and everything because of these wounds? I thought that was just such an important perspective on how we care for this struggling group of individuals.”
Dr. Maryann Salib, DO, MPH, Associate Medical Director of Community Health and Wellness at Esperanza Health Center