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Mate law obliges doctors registered in eight hours of training on the treatment and management of patients with opioid disorders or other substances. Sanjay Desai, MDUniversity director and vice-president of the medical education group at the American Medical Association, shares what doctors should know and how to finish the renewal of the DEA license. The AMA experience director Todd Unger, host.
Speaker
- Sanjay Desai, MD, university director and vice-president of the medical education group, AMA
UNGER: Hello and welcome to the video and podcast of the AMA update. Today, we are talking about the Mate law and the way it can be integrated into GME training. I am joined by Dr. Sanjay Desai, university director and vice-president of the AMA group in Chicago. I am Todd Unger, director of AMA experience, also in Chicago. Dr Desai is a pleasure to see you again.
Dr Desai: THANKS. It's good to be here.
UNGER: The law on the extension of medical access and expansion, better known as Mate Act, requires increased training for doctors and practitioners registered in disintegration, Dr. Desai, let's start by talking about a little information on the requirement and what it implies for doctors.
Dr Desai: Of course, Todd. Thus, this partner law officially entered into force in June 2025. And essentially, it obliges doctors to follow eight hours of training on the treatment and management of patients with opioid disorders or other substances.
Training is a unique requirement. So, once the doctors are over, they don't have to start again. But you have to be practiced for a long time or that you are not throughout the practice.
It is also important to note that the training can be done on several sessions. It's eight hours, but it can be interrupted. And doctors can also count the previous training of certain providers towards these eight hours.
UNGER: Dr. Desai, if I understand correctly, the AMA had some initial problems with the Mate Act and we expressed these concerns in Congress last year. For a small context, what was Congress think?
Dr Desai: Yes, so you know, as we have seen in our latest overdose epidemic report from 2022, the prescription of opioids has decreased from year to year in the last 10 years – almost a 50% reduction in the total. However, overdoses and deaths linked to fentanyl manufactured illegally, methamphetamine and cocaine unfortunately continue to increase. And so the epidemic is still a pressing problem, and it needs an even more urgent action.
And the Congress envisaged multiple legislative proposals to try to meet this urgent need. And some of them that they may have supported, such as the elimination of the need for doctors to obtain an exemption from X. It was a derogation that doctors must have to prescribe drugs for the disorder of opioid consumption and it was a barrier. We were therefore in favor of eliminating this.
The AMA was however concerned about the fact that there were unforeseen consequences for care for patients related to the training requirement of the Mate law. Thus, for example, even without renunciation X, forcing eight hours of training in substance consumption disorder for the registration of DEA, this may be an obstacle to care for patients who are treated with controlled drugs, whether or not they suffer from substance consumption disorder. In addition, we know that there is no evidence that CME mandates have led to discounts of overdoses or deaths related to opioids or improved results, which is another concern for ours. But now that the law on the partner is the law, the AMA strives to carry out the training as simple as possible and as significant as possible for doctors across the country.
UNGER: And we're going to talk about it a little in a little how we facilitate this. First of all, let us talk about what the law of the companion means for residents and scholarship holders who register with the DEA for the first time. Do they still need to follow this training?
Dr Desai: Yes, in fact, everyone must follow the training. Thus, all the doctors recorded in disintegration of the country are required to complete this training. Anyway, once again, if you are the first time, as I mentioned earlier, or if you also renew, it still requires a test that they have finished the eight hours of training required by the Mate Act or Eight Hours which creates the admissibility for this completion.
But that being said, the doctors who have already followed eight hours of training and many have already done so on this subject, do not need to start again. For example, if you have graduated from a medical school within five years of law, which is on June 27, 2025, and your establishment provided training on all drugs approved by the FDA to treat opioid disorders and other substances, you have already met this training requirement. However, this means that if you are a resident colleague who trained longer than that, they may still need to finish the eight hours of training.
UNGER: Dr Desai, what did you hear from GME institutions on the Mate law? And how did they help residents and scholarship holders to meet the requirement.
Dr Desai: Yes, we actually heard a lot, Todd, GME institutions recently on the Mate Act. Especially since it was there, and now people renew, it has become a very notable subject for GME institutions. And they want to understand how they can help their trainees meet these requirements. And the AMA can absolutely help this.
The AMA GME skills education program therefore has everything the institutions need to help their residents and scholarship holders comply with the Mate law. If you are a GME institution that already uses this program, all you have to do is assign these seven courses to your learners, and that's it. From there, you can follow their progress on their backs, and you can make sure that all residents and scholarship holders have completed the lessons.
If you are an program or an institution that does not use the program, you can know more about the AMA website by visiting Ama-assn.org/gcept—G- C- E- P. For GME institutions which already offer eight hours of training in disorders related to the consumption of substances, we encourage them to inform their residents and provide them with the type of documentation that they would find useful to check and use the certificate they must provide on the registration of the DEA. And although DEA does not require doctors submit this proof, once again, we encourage this as a better practice to keep registers for their files.
UNGER: Absolutely. And for doctors, you can also find an easy solution for you on the AMA ED Hub, which brings together all the courses you would need to meet this requirement. Dr. Desai, the companion's law entered into force. But in the long term, what will you be the impact on the country's drug epidemic linked to the country?
Dr Desai: Yes, it's such a problem, Todd. I mean, the fact that the reductions in the prescription of opioids have not led to reductions in mortality related to drugs shows that this is incredibly complicated and more work is necessary. And education, as always, can be a powerful tool in this battle. AMA has strongly supported medical schools and residence programs incorporating training on the wide range of essential questions to end this epidemic. We also continue to urge doctors to improve their education on care care for substance consumption, pain management and damage reduction initiatives based on evidence.
However, we know that education is not enough alone. And that is why we also continue to call the congress and insurance companies to increase access to care based on evidence. This includes the prohibition of prior authorization and steps therapy for the drugs we know that can deal with the reuse of opioids.
UNGER: Dr Desai, thank you very much for joining us today, and for all this information. This ends today. We will soon come back with another AMA update. In the meantime, you can find all our videos and podcasts in ama-assn.org/podcasts. Thank you for joining us. Please be careful.
Non-liability clause: The points of view expressed in this video are those of the participants and / or do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the AMA.
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