The training domino effect

“Doctors at the moment are not prescribing… the main reason in my view is a lack of education. Doctors have never been trained in cannabis medicine or the endocannabinoid system and they need the confidence that comes from training” – Professor Mike Barnes

Professor Mike Barnes, an instrumental player in paving the way for the legalisation of medical cannabis in the UK, thoroughly understands the importance of the prescription process. As the man responsible for obtaining the U.K’s first permanent medical license for Alfie Dingley, a young epilepsy sufferer who previously experienced up to 500 life-threatening seizures a month, his call for more doctors to be trained should not be ignored. 

At The Medical Cannabis Clinics, we truly understand the importance of training doctors to prescribe medical cannabis products. And importantly, we realise that not only is this training rewarding for the doctors in the short-term as they see their patients’ conditions improve immeasurably through this treatment, but it’s also rewarding in the long term, as the provision of training acts as the first step in a domino effect of larger positive change in society as a whole. This may sound like a reach, so let us explain how this domino effect works. 

Currently in the UK, the prescription of medical cannabis is at a stalemate as doctors remain in the dark about how medical cannabis can help patients and how they can prescribe in a safe and efficient manner. Once doctors receive the training they need however, they will be able to understand how cannabis based medicines work in a variety of cases and so will be able to prescribe for patients with confidence. 

The first knock on effect after training is obviously the treatment of patients in need – with this treatment being appropriate for patients with a variety of pain-related, psychiatric and neurological conditions. This is perhaps the most rewarding step for patients and doctors alike as you realise that once the stigma of cannabis-based treatment is overcome, remarkable results and improvements in previously resistant conditions can be seen. 

With the benefits of cannabis medicine becoming apparent as patients’ symptoms and conditions improve following adherence to carefully considering dosing regimes, word-of-mouth will convey the efficacy of this form of medicine, leading to more doctors realising cannabis’ medical benefits. 

As more doctors eventually start prescribing in this way then, this form of medicine will become far less taboo and more normalised, which in time may lead to healthcare advisory bodies allowing the prescription of medical cannabis for a wider range of conditions that currently remain without alternative, non opioid-based treatment options.

And as the medicine is accepted as an appropriate form of treatment for a number of conditions, the price of such cannabis-based treatment will drop, making it far more accessible for patients who desperately need to find solutions to their treatment resistant illnesses.  

With all this in mind, it becomes clear that training doctors is about far more than just prescribing for patients in the short-term. Through learning to prescribe with The Academy of Medical Cannabis and The Medical Cannabis Clinics, doctors are in fact contributing to a far larger and far more important societal and industry-wide domino effect that will have an impact on patients with a number of conditions and will help to eradicate years of stigma about a treatment that can effectively help so many who previously had no other viable treatment options.   

To learn how to prescribe cannabis-based treatment for patients in need, sign up to The Academy of Medical Cannabis’ training courses here, where you’ll not only learn how to prescribe but where you’ll also join our peer-to-peer network of experienced prescribers and get patient access through The Medical Cannabis Clinics.