AACOM IMpact Stories: Championing Overdose Prevention and Community Care in California’s Central Valley

Photo caption: Each year, OPC equips incoming first-year medical students with life-saving overdose response skills through its annual naloxone training.

The community education activities and volunteer work by the Overdose Prevention Committee (OPC) at the California Health Sciences University College of Osteopathic Medicine was featured in the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) 2025 Impact Stories.

According to the article, substance use disorders (SUDs) touch nearly two-thirds of all American families, impacting the health and well-being of individuals using substances and their loved ones. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, there was an unprecedented rise in substance use and related overdoses as people coped with isolation. Seeing the negative impact of substance use-related overdoses in their community, California Health Sciences University College of Osteopathic Medicine (CHSU-COM) students formed the Overdose Prevention Committee (OPC) to locally address the issue in California’s Central Valley. 

Aicha Naouai, third-year CHSU medical student and previous rotating chair of OPC and the OPC’s faculty advisor Francisco Ibarra, PharmD, BCCCP, were both interviewed by AACOM and contributed to the article.

Read the full AACOM Impact Story here: Championing Overdose Prevention and Community Care in California’s Central Valley