On-demand viewing available beginning August 1, 2024.

This session was presented live on January 11, 2024, as part of the ACAAM Virtual Learning Series offering faculty development content to all ACAAM members. New for 2024-2025, ACAAM is providing these on-demand recordings as part of the ACAAM Faculty Development Series. 

Presented by Elisabeth Poorman, MD MPH, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, Frances Norlock, DO MPH FACP, Rush Medical College, and Sara Beeler-Stinn, PhD LCSW MPA, University of Illinois at Chicago Jane Addams College of Social Work

It is estimated that only 3,000 physicians are trained in addiction, compared to 21 million Americans who suffer from substance use disorders. Starting July 2022, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) required internal medicine (IM) programs to provide structured clinical experiences in addiction medicine. As addiction medicine specialists in neighboring urban institutions, we partnered to create a 2 week community-based rotation designed to expose internists-in-training to the principles of harm reduction and the importance of patient-centered care in substance use disorders. Residents were assigned a mixture of clinic-based activities including time in a methadone clinic and substance use treatment programs, mobile outreach to unhoused communities, harm reduction services, and group therapy. In keeping with traditional values in addiction medicine, all sites were multi-disciplinary and included recovery coaches, harm reduction specialists, pharmacists, care coordinators, social workers, and mental health workers with expertise in caring for those with substance use disorders, as well as leaders with lived experience. Presenters discuss the importance of building relationships with community organizations, and teaching residents about the communities they serve. The rotation emphasizes a harm reduction philosophy and reducing stigma for patients with substance use disorders, a philosophy which is often at odds with mainstream medicine. Presenters also discuss managing culture clashes, the difficulties of balancing learner needs and community partnerships, and promoting culture change through education.