On February 27, 2019, the ICCI (International Cannabis and Cannabinoids Institute), in collaboration with partners Spectrum Cannabis and the St. Anne Faculty Hospital in Brno, held their first medical cannabis seminar at Jihlava Hospital. The theme of this seminar was “Training for Health Care Professionals – Medical Cannabis in Practice Tour 2019”.
The lead content contributor, Dr. Radovan Hřib, M.D., Head Physician of the Pain Management Center at the St. Anne Faculty Hospital in Brno, has many years of experience in treating patients with medical cannabis and is one of our local subject matter experts. During the seminar, Dr. Hřib reviewed the basic principles used to treat pain with medical cannabis, and corrected misconceptions and inaccuracies surrounding medical cannabis for therapeutic use. He also shared his personal experience on prescribing medical cannabis, including titration algorithms and condition-specific methods of administration. Part of the seminar included mapping medical cannabis prescriptions in the Czech Republic in 2019.
Questions and open debate stretched half an hour longer than expected, many topics were addressed, and a fundamental breakthrough in communication between doctors and pharmacists took place.
Another speaker, Dr. Veronika Prokešová, Pharm. D., Clinical Pharmacist at the Motol University Hospital in Prague, shared her recent experience with the process of introducing medical cannabis prescriptions into the hospital setting. She pointed out the challenges, not only related to current legislation, but also to the lack of awareness and readiness of the health care system for treating with and prescribing medical cannabis. Dr. Prokešová’s insight created a positive atmosphere for an open and meaningful discussion among over 50 attendees from different hospital departments. Questions and open debate stretched half an hour longer than expected, many topics were addressed, and a fundamental breakthrough in communication between doctors and pharmacists took place. The seminar had a very valuable professional and social dimension.
In the months to come, ICCI will continue to be proactive in educating healthcare professionals on the therapeutic uses of medical cannabis, and will plan additional “Training for Health Care Professionals – Medical Cannabis in Practice Tour 2019” events at local hospitals. Each of these educational events are worth two Lifelong Learning credits.
We would like to thank our colleagues from the Jihlava Hospital for their support, and all those involved in organizing the symposium. Furthermore, we would like to thank everyone who attended and participated in this successful event.
Source: ICCI – International Cannabis and Cannabinoids Institute
