The Duke-UNC Tobacco Treatment Specialist Training Program (TTS Program) is a collaborative
effort by the Duke University Smoking Cessation Program and the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill Tobacco Treatment Program-both national leaders in tobacco treatment, education,
and research-and the Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch, Division of Public Health, NC
Department of Health and Human Services. This innovative partnership was initiated by a request
from the Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch due to the demand for this state-based resource
from the many partners working on evidence-based tobacco use prevention and cessation in
North Carolina. The program's primary aim is to train tobacco treatment specialists to provide
individuals in North Carolina and across the nation with the highest caliber treatment available for
tobacco use and dependence. The broader goal of the program is to reduce the impact of tobacco
use on local, state, and US populations. The course faculty includes physicians, researchers,
therapists, pharmacists, and public health experts, all with expertise in tobacco dependence.
Course topics include:
- Standard-of-care tobacco treatment
- Pharmacotherapeutic interventions and their most effective uses
- Behavioral interventions and targeted skills in tobacco use disorder
counseling, including motivational interviewing
- Treatment planning and relapse prevention
- Social support in tobacco use treatment
- Population-based tobacco use data and tobacco control history,
culture, and context
- Policy, systems, and environmental change to create a more
supportive environment
- Methods to advance health equity in tobacco treatment practice
- Tobacco treatment program implementation and sustainability
- Practical guidance on running a practice in a variety of settings