Addiction Psychiatry Fellows participate in various educational experiences covering the assessment, diagnosis, neurobiology, and the treatment of substance use and related disorders. These are facilitated by various fellowship faculty and are based on current cases the fellows and others are treating, the experiences of faculty and members, current and past research, journal articles, review courses, and textbook chapters.  Some examples:

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 psychiatry 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 fellows and faculty that is highly applicable to addiction psychiatry fellows.

Addiction Seminar: Dr. Rodney Eiger, the senior associate program director meets with the addiction medicine and addiction psychiatry fellows weekly and reviews ACAAM Didactic subject matter and other content.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Supervision: The fellows receive weekly supervision by Dr. Natania Crane on the patients with substance use issues for whom they are seeing for CBT-based treatment.

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. Jon Henry, an addiction psychiatrist, meets with the fellows weekly for them 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 psychiatry fellows, the meeting is attended by addiction medicine fellows, psychiatry residents,  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.