Conferences and Seminars
The addiction medicine fellowship faculty are deeply committed to teaching. In addition to including direct supervision and informal didactics, many of the rotations have regularly scheduled seminars that the fellows will participate in during that rotation. For example, during their pain medicine rotation a fellow would participate in the weekly pain clinic case conference, and during their emergency addiction medicine rotation fellows would attend relevant toxicology case conferences.
Several didactic seminars last for a sizable portion of the academic year, and all addiction medicine fellows are expected to attend. Additionally, trainees from other disciplines – including addiction psychiatry fellows, post-doctoral psychology fellows, psychology interns, as well as residents and medical students – are frequent co-learners. Some examples include:
Addiction Affinity Group: A discussion-based opportunity for clinicians and researchers (clinical and basic science) to discuss addiction (ideas, issues, cases, data, etc.), promote drug addiction research, and foster collaborations. Fellows present cases and lead discussions with supervision from faculty.
Addiction Medicine Bootcamp: Beginning early in the academic year, this is a series of weekly classes that focus on important clinical issues that fellows will encounter throughout their fellowship. The classes are overseen by providers with significant experience and expertise.
Addiction Neuroscience Seminar: Dr. Natania Crane is a clinical psychologist and an addiction medicine fellowship faculty member whose research utilizes multiple methods (i.e., fMRI, EEG, cognitive, clinical, and self-report measures) to examine the brain and behavioral risk factors and consequences of substance use disorders. In the second half of the academic year she oversees a series of classes for the fellows on topics in addiction neuroscience highly relevant to addiction physicians.
American College of Academic Addiction Medicine (ACAAM) National Addiction Medicine Didactic Curriculum: A weekly experience for addiction medicine fellows and faculty that maps to the American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM) addiction medicine exam blueprint as well as the ACGME medical competencies.
Basics of Addiction Medicine: Dr. Rodney Eiger, the addiction medicine fellowship assistant program director as well as the program director of the addiction psychiatry fellowship, meets with the addiction medicine and addiction psychiatry fellows weekly and reviews either the AAAP review course or the ASAM review course along with related articles from the literature or textbook chapters. As the year progresses, some time is also utilized to discuss career planning.
Medication for Opioid Use Disorder Case Conference: A collaborative interdisciplinary team-based meeting between faculty, nursing, and behavioral health/SUD support staff focusing on case discussion, case management, and problem-solving workflow challenges.
Motivational Interviewing Seminar: Dr. Henry, addiction psychiatrist, meets with the fellow and other trainees every other week for a period to learn about and practice motivational interviewing (MI). Portions of the seminar are dedicated to didactic content as well as practicing MI techniques. Practice is conducted utilizing a volunteer interviewer, interviewee, and formal coder, after which feedback is given to the interviewer.
Recovery Clinic (Co-Occurring Disorders Clinic) Meeting: The meeting occurs after Recovery Clinic on Wednesdays. Participants take turns leading discussions on topics related to substance use in general and issues pertaining to patients seen in the clinic. Formats include case presentations, journal article discussions, and formal presentations. In addition to the addiction medicine fellows, the meeting is attended by addiction psychiatry fellows, psychiatry residents, a clinical pharmacist, psychology interns, and medical students.
Windy City Addiction Fellow Meeting: A monthly meeting involving fellows and faculty from addiction medicine and addiction psychiatry fellowships at Northwestern, Rush, and the University of Illinois to promote learning and collaboration. A journal club format is used to discuss relevant addiction medicine topics.