France's first medical cannabis diploma

Who says experimentation with therapeutic cannabis, and its possible subsequent generalization, means training for medical staff.

From January 2021, the Universities of Montpellier and Paris-Saclay will be offering the first inter-university diploma «Du bon usage du cannabis thérapeutique» ("On the proper use of therapeutic cannabis").

Delivered by videoconference, Covid obliges, the training «will aim to provide theoretical and practical university training on the administration of products containing cannabis as part of the generalization of the French experiment planned for the end of 2021. It will enable the acquisition of cross-disciplinary skills in prescribing and supporting patients suffering from pathologies requiring the use of medical cannabis.»

The course includes 50 hours of lectures by Professor Pierre Labauge from Montpellier University Hospital and Professor Amine Benyamina from Université Paris Sud. Among the skills to be acquired, the training aims to ensure that :

• Identify patients who are eligible for medical cannabis prescriptions
• Prescribing skills (for doctors) and dispensing skills (for pharmacists)
• Communicate the different effects of medical cannabis and its various uses
• Controlling the dosage of cannabis-containing products

A dissertation and a final written exam will complete the course.

Places are limited and pre-registration is open here and here.