David Marcovitz, MD

Dr. David Marcovitz is a board-certified general and addiction psychiatrist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Director of the Division of Addiction Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.  He helped launch the Vanderbilt University Hospital Addiction Consult Service and transitional outpatient Bridge Clinic at VUMC.  He also serves as the Principal Investigator for the state-funded Middle TN Opioid Addiction Treatment Hub at Vanderbilt.  While completing his addiction psychiatry fellowship at Partners Healthcare / Harvard Medical School, he also worked as a staff psychiatrist receiving additional mentored training in collaborative care in the IMPACT Model at Partners Healthcare in Boston, MA.  He is an experienced educator, delivering formal and informal didactics on various addiction-related topics to medical students, residents, fellows and colleagues.  He has served as the senior trainer for Tennessee supporting the federally-funded Opioid Response Network to help build addiction treatment capacity across TN.  Dr. Marcovitz’ teaching at the regional and national level has focused on models of collaborative care with internal medicine and other specialties and disciplines in addiction treatment in both the inpatient and outpatient setting.  He has also presented at national meetings on novel teaching methods and outcome measures in addiction psychiatry.  He has published on addiction education methods as well as research at the intersection of treatment of opioid addiction and community mutual help. Dr. Marcovitz serves on the board of directors for the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP).

In addition to being board-certified in general and addiction psychiatry, Dr. Marcovitz has received additional training in couples and family interventions for patients affected by addiction and other co-occurring disorders. Specifically, he has been trained in the Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) model pioneered by Dr. Robert Meyers and in Emotionally-Focused Couples Therapy (EFT) based on the work of Sue Johnston. He also employs eclectic methods in his interventions informed by training in psychodynamic psychotherapy, behavioral interventions, 12-Step related modalities, and cognitive therapies. He believes strongly in the importance of integration of the patient’s network into the treatment program and understands there are multiple paths to recovery.  

Education

M.D., Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

B.A., Princeton University

Postgraduate Training

-Intern in Internal Medicine, Newton Wellesley Hospital

-Resident in Adult Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital / McLean Psychiatry Residency at Harvard Medical School

-Fellow in Addiction Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital / McLean / Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Partners Integrated Fellowship at Harvard Medical School)

Research interests

Collaborative care for addiction, addiction education, addiction pharmacotherapy, 12-Step facilitation

Representative publications

1. Marcovitz D, Cristello J, Kelly, J. Alcoholics Anonymous and Other Mutual Help Organizations: Impact of a 45-Minute Didactic for Primary Care and Categorical Internal Medicine Residents. Substance Abuse. May 2016.
2. Marcovitz D, McHugh K, Volpe, J, Votaw, V, Connery, H. Predictors of early dropout in outpatient buprenorphine/naloxone treatment. American Journal on Addictions. 2016 July; 25(6), 472-477.
3. Tobey M, Marcovitz D, Aragam G. A 1-hour session to refresh motivational interviewing skills for internal medicine residents using peer interviews. MedEdPORTAL Publications. 2018;14:10679.
4. Weiss RD, Griffin ML, Marcovitz D, Hilton BT, Fitzmaurice GM, McHugh RK, Carroll KM. Correlates of Opioid Abstinence in a 42-Month Post-Treatment Naturalistic Follow-up Study of Prescription Opioid Dependence.  J Clinical Psychiatry, March 2019, 80(2).
5. Marcovitz D, Nisavic M, Bearnot, B.  Staffing an Addiction Consult Service: Psychiatrists, Internists, or Both?  General Hospital Psychiatry (2019): 41-43.
6. Davidson S, Gerdner O, Marcovitz D, Grunau Z, Stoklosa J, Vestal H. Narrative Podcasts as a Teaching Tool in Psychiatry.  Academic Psychiatry.  2019 Jun 15;43(3):275-9.
7. Marcovitz D, McHugh RK, Roos C, West J, Kelly J.  Overlapping Mechanisms of Recovery between Professional Psychotherapies and Alcoholics Anonymous: A review.  Journal of Addiction Medicine.  Feb 2020.
8. Marcovitz D, Sidelnik S, Smith M, Suzuki J.  Motivational Interviewing on an Addiction Consult Service: Pearls, Perils and Educational Opportunities.  Down to Earth Academic Skills.  Academic Psychiatry. 2020 May 20;44(3), 352-355.
9. Marcovitz D, Maruti S, Kast K, Suzuki J.  The Use of Therapeutic Metaphor on an Addiction Consult Service.  Psychosomatics.  In Press [accepted September 2020].
10. Marcovitz D, Sullivan W, Cobb C.  The Need for Biochemical Testing for Alcohol in Integrated Addiction Treatment Settings During the Opioid Epidemic.  Journal of Addiction Medicine. 2020 December.
11. Nelson SD, McCoy AB, Rector H, Teare AJ, Barrett TW, Sigworth EA, Chen Q, Edwards DA, Marcovitz DE, Wright A. Assessment of a Naloxone Coprescribing Alert for Patients at Risk of Opioid Overdose: A Quality Improvement Project. Anesth Analg. 2022. Epub 2022/03/29.

12. Marcovitz D, White K, Sullivan W, Limper H, Dear M; Buie R; Edwards D, Chastain C; Kast K, Lindsell C.  Bridging Recovery Initiative Despite Gaps in Entry (BRIDGE): Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial of a Bridge Clinic Compared with Usual Care for Patients with Opioid Use Disorder. Trials.  (2021) 22:757

13. Marcovitz D, Pettapiece-Phillips, M, Kast K, White K, Himeloch H, Audet C.  Implementation of a Hub-and-Spoke Partnership for Opioid Use Disorder in a Medicaid Non-Expansion State.  Psychiatric Services.  December, 2021.

14. Marcovitz D, Suzuki, J. Comfort in Setting Limits with Controlled Substances – the Role of Motivational Interviewing Skills. JAMA Psychiatry. February 2022.