Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

New ACGME-Accredited Addiction Medicine Fellowship Programs and Their Impact on the Field

  • Substance Use Disorders (FG Moeller, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Treatment Options in Psychiatry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

With the recognition of addiction medicine as a medical subspecialty by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) in 2016, fellowship training programs for physicians have sprung up across the country at a rapid pace. As of this writing, 70 such fellowship programs exist (including in Canada and Puerto Rico), with most accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) or in the process of accreditation. This review explores the significant changes that have occurred already due to these training programs and the potential future implications for the field of addiction medicine.

Recent Findings

Little published information is available on the impact of fellowship-trained addiction specialists on the field or on the treatment of addictions as the accreditation was a recent development.

Summary

While there is little published information about the impact that ACGME accreditation has had on the field, this article uses existing evidence to suggest areas that accreditation may impact.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References and Recommended Reading

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

  1. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2019). Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (HHS Publication No. PEP19–5068, NSDUH Series H-54). Rockville, MD: Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Retrieved from https://www.samhsa.gov/data/Annual nationwide survey that provides critical national and state-level data on both substance use and mental health conditions and can help identify areas to direct treatment and prevention.

  2. The President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. (2017).

  3. Tontchev GV, Housel TR, Callahan JF, Kunz KB, Miller MM, Blondell RD. Specialized training on addictions for physicians in the United States. Subst Abuse. 2011;32:84–92. https://doi.org/10.1080/08897077.2011.555702.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. The Need for Addiction Medicine Physicians and for Addiction Medicine Residency Training Programs: A Report of the American Board of Addiction Medicine Foundation. American Board of Addiction Medicine Foundation; Bethesda MD: 2009.

  5. Katcher BS. Benjamin Rush's educational campaign against hard drinking. Am J Public Health. 1993;83(2):273–81. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.83.2.273.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Koob GF, Volkow ND. Neurocircuitry of addiction [published correction appears in Neuropsychopharmacology. 2010 Mar;35(4):1051]. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2010;35(1):217–38. https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2009.110.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Miller N, Sheppard L, Magen J. Barriers to improving education and training in addiction medicine. Psychiatr Ann. 2001;31:649–56. https://doi.org/10.3928/0048-5713-20011101-06.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Soyka M, Gorelick DA. Why should addiction medicine be an attractive field for young physicians? Addiction. 2009;104:169–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Englander H, Dobbertin K, Lind BK, et al. Inpatient addiction medicine consultation and post-hospital substance use disorder treatment engagement: a propensity-matched analysis. J Gen Intern Med 2019 Aug 13 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-019-05251-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Reeve R, Arora S, Butler K, Viney R, Burns L, Goodall S, et al. Evaluating the impact of hospital based drug and alcohol consultation liaison services. Reeve J Subs Abuse Treat. 2016Sep;68:36–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2016.05.008.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Brooklyn JR, Sigmon SC. Vermont hub-and-spoke model of care for opioid use disorder: development, implementation, and impact. J Addict Med. 2017;11(4):286–92. https://doi.org/10.1097/ADM.0000000000000310.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Barry CL, McGinty EE, Pescosolido BA, Goldman HH. Stigma, discrimination, treatment effectiveness, and policy: public views about drug addiction and mental illness. Psychiatr Serv. 2014;65(10):1269–72. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201400140.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. McGinty EE, Goldman HH, Pescosolido B, Barry CL. Portraying mental illness and drug addiction as treatable health conditions: effects of a randomized experiment on stigma and discrimination. Soc Sci Med. 2015;126:73–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.12.010.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Keyes KM, Hatzenbuehler ML, McLaughlin KA, Link B, Olfson M, Grant BF, et al. Stigma and treatment for alcohol disorders in the United States. Am J Epidemiol. 2010;172(12):1364–72. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwq304.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. van Boekel LC, Brouwers EP, van Weeghel J, Garretsen HF. Stigma among health professionals towards patients with substance use disorders and its consequences for healthcare delivery: systematic review. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2013;131(1–2):23–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2013.02.018.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. CASA Columbia Addiction medicine: closing the gap between science and practice [Internet]. New York (NY): The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University; 2012. [cited 2019 Sept 22].

  17. Antman KH, Berman HA, Flotte TR, Flier J, Dmitri DM, Bharel M. Developing Core Competencies for the Prevention and Management of Prescription Drug Misuse: A Medical Education Collaboration in Massachusetts. Acad Med 2016;91:1348–1351. Important review of medical curriculum and addiction didactics with the development of core competencies with the goal to enhance education in prevention and treatment of substance use disorders.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Donald McNally.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

Dr. McNally declares no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Substance Use Disorders

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Nishiaoki, M., McNally, D., Bey, R.M. et al. New ACGME-Accredited Addiction Medicine Fellowship Programs and Their Impact on the Field. Curr Treat Options Psych 7, 1–8 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40501-020-00200-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40501-020-00200-4

Keywords

Navigation