ADDICTION MEDICINE FELLOW

The mission of the Institute for Family Health is to improve access to high quality, patient-centered primary health care targeted to the needs of medically underserved communities.

Towards that goal the joint Fellowship in Addiction Medicine and Research is designed to create champions of evidence-based care for patients with substance use disorders (SUDs) competent in the tools to systematically investigate and advance the understanding of SUDs in the family medicine setting. Fellows will act as peer leaders and promote best practices for diagnosis and treatment within the primary care setting, and enhance self-efficacy in providing evidence-based addiction services in a primary care setting for both health care providers and ancillary personnel. They will also develop the skills to be competent clinical investigators.

Our Fellowship is a 2-year training program that includes training in various clinical, didactic and research settings. The Addiction Medicine Fellowship is accredited by the Accreditation Council in Academic Medicine and led by a Board-certified Family and Addiction Medicine Physician with 40 years of experience. The Research Fellowship is funded by the Empire Clinical Research Investigator Program of New York State with the aim of contributing to a clinical workforce that is competent in research methods with potential to bring in extramural grant funding to conduct research.

To be eligible, you must be able to receive a license to practice medicine in the state of New York, at least 6 weeks prior to the start of your Fellowship. You must also be a US or Canadian citizen or Permanent Legal Resident and be a graduate of a medical, dental or podiatric school located in New York State, a graduate or resident in a graduate medical education program, where the sponsoring institution is located in New York State, or reside in New York State prior to July 11th 2024.

Our program aims to accomplish the following goals throughout the course of the two Fellowship years:

• Develop board certified Addiction medicine specialists who are able to practice in a primary care setting.
• Treat patients with use disorders in the context of primary care, managing medical problem such as diabetes, hypertension and depression in addition to their dependency diagnosis
• Understanding the functioning of federally qualified community health centers (FQHCs) to allow interventions (policies and procedures) to promote the identification and evidence-based treatment of substance and other use disorders.
• Learn to practice and take on a leadership role in a collaborative health care model where mental health and medical providers work together using a unified clinical workspace and medical record.
• Learn to use the electronic health record to create order sets and documentation tools that promote state of the art evidence-based care.
• Learn to use the electronic health record as an epidemiologic tool to evaluate the care of the population cared for by the FQHC in an effort to improve health outcomes.
• Learn skills to work with and collaborate with other health care organizations (Hospitals, ERs, and Ambulatory substance treatment centers, harm reduction programs) and identify appropriate transfer and referrals as necessary.
• Learn medication assisted therapies for opioid use disorder and alcohol use disorder along with emerging therapies for other addictions.
• Disseminate knowledge and increase self-efficacy for learners and providers in a primary care setting in providing medication assisted therapies for opioid use disorder and alcohol use disorder along with emerging therapies for other addictions.
• Learn therapies to address medical complications associated with substance use disorders (hepatitis C, HIV, cirrhosis, peripheral neuropathies).
• Identify medical and psychosocial needs of family members and other individuals associated with the patient who are impacted by their addiction and work within interdisciplinary team to provide supportive care in the context of family medicine.

Clinical Research Goals and Objectives

• Work with a mentor to develop a detailed study protocol and timeline
• Co-lead study team meetings with mentor and partner fellows
• Learn and execute institutional compliance requirements for research involving human subjects
• Work with a research team, advisory panel, and other fellows to develop preliminary findings
• Present findings internally and externally at meetings and symposia
• Develop presentation abstracts and manuscripts for peer-reviewed dissemination
• Learn how to select, develop, and apply appropriate study design and statistics to research clinical and community SUD issues
• Learn project management incorporating different tools and personnel to implement study objectives
• Teach and communicate scientific knowledge through oral presentations and other didactic activities
• Disseminate results through poster and oral presentations, and develop a publishable manuscript
• Identify options for further funding including federal seed funding for junior researchers

Our Fellows are eligible to sit for the ABPM Addiction Medicine Board exam upon the completion of their Fellowship.

Institute for Family Health: Our Fellows spend a significant amount of time in patient care, didactics and research at the Institute for Family Health, including continuity clinic and addiction medicine consult clinic. Our Fellowship clinical sites include Health Centers located in the Bronx and Manhattan. Fellows may also be involved in training and research activities that take place at sites in the Mid-Hudson Valley region of New York and will require occasional travel to the region. Fellows will maintain a patient panel with three continuity sessions per week and one addiction consultation session.

• Harm Reduction: Fellows will spend 6 months with our Harm Reduction partner, AIDS Center of Queens County, providing MAT services from a syringe exchange vehicle in Queens.
• Inpatient Addiction Psychiatry: Fellows complete 4 months of inpatient rotation at Metropolitan Hospital providing medical and psychosocial care within an interdisciplinary team through the Consult for Addiction Treatment and Care in Hospitals (CATCH) program consulting and caring for patients suffering from SUDs in the Emergency room and inpatient wards.
• OTPS: Fellows spend 6 months rotating at Greenwich House, an outpatient substance use treatment program that includes methadone maintenance along with oral and injectable buprenorphine, injectable naltrexone and psychotherapy in an established settlement house environment.
• Outpatient Services: Fellows spend 2-3 months rotating at the Bronx VA, providing comprehensive outpatient services to Veterans struggling with substance use, including group visits and the smoking cessation clinic. As part of the addiction psychiatry team the fellow may also participate in inpatient consultation.
• Public Health and Epidemiology: Fellows spend 1-2 months at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) during which they identify and develop a project which can be continued throughout the length of their Fellowship.

• Didactics: Weekly addiction medicine didactics at the Institute for Family Health with our Program Director and other Faculty. Educational topics include (but are not limited to): Substance use in Major Psychiatric Disorders, Motivational Interviewing, Role of the Justice System in Substance Use Disorders, Twelve Step Programs in substance use disorders, and the Neurobiology of Addiction. Throughout the two years fellows will attend monthly research meetings where they will deliver periodic research-in-progress presentations to other research fellows and mentors.
• Meeting and conference attendance: Fellows attend various meetings hosted by educational and social justice organizations in the New York City Area, including events hosted by the New York Academy of Medicine, Mt Sinai Hospital, Columbia Hospital and the New York Drug Policy Alliance. Fellows will also attend conferences germane to their research in addition to society conferences such as STFM and NAPCRG. Additionally, Fellows are expected to attend the NY Society of Addiction Medicine (NYSAM) conference, the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) conference, and the Institute for Family Health Research Symposium in May of each year and are required to present their research there.
• Research and CQI: In addition to their research requirements, fellows participate in the Institute’s Addiction and Chronic Pain Quality Improvement Committee.
• Education: The Institute is the home of 3 Family Medicine Residencies and various other educational programs. During the Fellowship, our Fellows are expected to complete educational presentations to the Family Medicine residents and clinical staff on topics related to Addiction Medicine. Through the research fellowship, fellows are encouraged to enroll in programs that enhance research theoretical knowledge, including MPH and CRTP programs. There is funding to support enrollment and tuition.
• Addiction Consult Hotline: Fellows are expected to answer the Addiction Consult Hotline, an on-call line set up for clinical staff at the Institute for Family Health to utilize when providing Addiction Services to their patients

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

AM

Continuity

Research

Inpatient

Research/Harm Reduction

Research

PM

Continuity

Research

Research/Addiction Consult

Didactics

Continuity

Eve

Consult

Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action:

The Institute for Family Health is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. This job summary is intended to be brief and may not list all the duties and functions required, however, it does highlight the essential requirements. Nothing outlined in this job summary is to be construed as an express or implied contract of employment.

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