MD Anderson is first in Texas to be accredited to train tobacco treatment specialists

Since 2006, MD Anderson’s Tobacco Treatment Program (TTP) has been providing tobacco cessation services to patients and employees seeking to quit or decrease their tobacco use. Soon, the institution’s tobacco cessation expertise will be available to any health care professional interested in treating tobacco users.

MD Anderson recently was accredited to offer official training and certification by the Association for the Treatment of Tobacco Use
 and Dependence, an organization of providers dedicated to the promotion of and increased access to evidence-based tobacco treatment. With this designation, MD Anderson’s Certified Tobacco Treatment Training Program (CTTTP) becomes the only accredited program in Texas, and one of only 15 in the nation.

There’s a particular need for such programs in Texas, where current smoking rates remain above 15% and an estimated 28,000 adults die each year from tobacco use – the single largest preventable cause of death in the U.S.

“Our program will offer the highest quality tobacco-treatment specialist training using the latest evidence-based tobacco cessation research and treatment strategies,” says Paul Cinciripini, Ph.D., chair of Behavioral Science and director of the Tobacco Treatment Program. “The training will include knowledge gained from MD Anderson investigator-initiated research trials and highly specialized clinical experience.”

Interdisciplinary health care providers and public health professionals will be trained to deliver a high-intensity, evidence-based, cognitive-behavioral treatment for nicotine dependence. This represents an expansion of the TTP approach, which was designed to leverage MD Anderson’s expertise and increase capacity in order to provide best-practice cessation services in Texas and beyond.

Faculty and professionals from the TTP will provide clinical expertise in smoking cessation counseling and pharmacotherapy, and the EndTobacco program staff will offer their expertise in programmatic implementation and logistical support.

The EndTobacco program is an initiative of MD Anderson’s cancer prevention and control platform, which is part of the institution’s Moon Shots Program™, an ambitious effort to reduce cancer deaths by more rapidly developing and implementing advances in prevention, early detection and treatment.

The CTTTP’s first four-day training course will be Aug. 15-18, with subsequent courses scheduled quarterly. Find more information here.