The Vanderbilt Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences offers a one-year ACGME-accredited fellowship program in Addiction Medicine to provide a well-rounded educational and clinical training program in the prevention, evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, and recovery of persons with the disease of addiction, of those with substance-related health conditions, and of people who show unhealthy use of substances including nicotine, alcohol, prescription medications and other licit and illicit drugs.
The Fellowship goal is to train the next generation of leaders to advance evidence-based clinical care and academic understanding of addiction, by striving for continuous enrichment of the training experience. The program will prepare trainees for clinical and academic leadership in the field of Addiction Medicine and for the certification examination for Addiction Medicine by the American Board of Preventive Medicine.
The Fellowship program is designed to provide a 12-month intensive academic and training experience for applicants who are Board certified in any relevant clinical specialty or who have recently become Board eligible. Following completion of training each Fellow will be able to:
• Provide patient care that is compassionate, appropriate, and effective for the promotion of health and the identification of common psychiatric problems related to addiction;
• Apply knowledge in the biomedical, clinical, epidemiological sciences and social-behavioral sciences to their care of patients;
• Pursue a career focused on clinical care, research or teaching, health care leadership, and as a scholarly practitioner.
During the 12 months of training, the fellow's clinical work is grounded in their experience at VUMC's outstanding academic medical center which also has a broad base of research activities relevant to addiction. Vanderbilt Behavioral Health has training sites that include Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital, Vanderbilt Health at One Hundred Oaks, and regional addiction treatment facilities associated with Vanderbilt Department of Psychiatry Addiction Division.
Academic training will include introductory ‘Boot Camp’, clinical supervision, weekly evidence-based literature seminars, and a monthly journal club. The Fellow will participate in Psychiatry and other Grand Rounds where addiction issues are presented and they can observe ECT and TMS treatments. Fellows will also receive buprenorphine waiver training and will have seminars with faculty from Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research to encourage mentorship for direction and support for an academic project during the fellowship year. Fellows will be given teaching opportunities involving a variety of trainees and leadership experience on clinical teams.
Clinical inpatient training will focus on detoxification and supervised management of common psychiatric disorders that are co-morbid with addictions. In addition to ongoing supervision in outpatient care, the fellow will develop familiarity with group therapy and 12-Step facilitation.
Our diverse faculty also provides elective training experiences in special populations such as emergency assessment, pain control/anesthesia, obstetrical substance use disorders, tobacco cessation, physician health, HIV, and transplant clinics.
Rotations include:
- Emergency psychiatry/addiction
- Addictions continuity clinic
- Tobacco cessation consult service
- Opioids in pregnancy clinic
- Addictions inpatient consult service
- Inpatient concurrent disorders/detoxification
- Viral hepatitis/HIV/infectious disease rotation
- Pain management rotation
- Clinical and research electives
Seminars include:
- Core addiction medicine didactics with expert faculty
- Psychiatry boot camp
- General psychiatry topics pertinent to non-psychiatry addiction fellows
- Monthly journal club
- Weekly grand rounds
- Division of Addictions Case Conference
- Clinical Case Conference
There is no call required and weekends are off, so fellows are fee to enjoy Nashville!
Applicant Qualifications:
Completion of an ACGME-accredited residency program by the start of the fellowship in any of the following specialties:
- Anesthesiology
- Emergency Medicine
- Family Medicine
- Internal Medicine
- Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Pediatrics
- Preventive Medicine
- Psychiatry
Application Process:
Beginning 2021, Addiction Medicine Fellowship Programs is utilizing ERAS for recruitment. Applications are submitted via ERAS starting July 1, with interviews beginning mid-July.
Information about the ERAS application process is here.
The application will include a personal statement describing interests, achievements, and career goals within addiction psychiatry; standardized data from the applicant’s curriculum vitae; current headshot photograph; USMLE I, II, III scores; and any applicable information for IMG credentialing (e.g. ECFMG Certificate, visa). Four letters of recommendation are required; one letter must be from the applicant’s residency program director. Information required for VUMC credentialing is here.
A.J. Reid Finlayson, M.D., M.Mgt.
Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Program Director, Addiction Medicine Fellowship Medical Director, Vanderbilt Comprehensive Assessment Program
Medical Director, Center for Professional Excellence, JourneyPur
Elizabeth H. Wilson, B.S.
Program Manager