Newswise — The Addiction Medicine Foundation (formerly The ABAM Foundation) today announced the winners of the Next Generation Award for Adolescent Substance Use Prevention. The awards of $25,000 each, which are conferred by the Foundation’s National Center for Physician Training in Addiction Medicine and partially funded by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, were given at the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) Conference April 16 in Baltimore.
The Next Generation Awards are designed to support the educational experience of physicians matriculating in fellowships accredited by The Addiction Medicine Foundation. The fellows must have a career objective of addressing the prevention, intervention and treatment of risky substance use among adolescents and young adults. The awards are specifically designed to help these fellows develop as future leaders in the field, as they support training experiences that help them develop leadership and teaching skills, as well as in developing substance use prevention and early intervention competencies.
“We want to assure that physicians in our fellowship programs are trained in addiction medicine and intervention in youth substance use, and that they are well prepared to help lead the field,” said Robert J. Sokol, MD, President of The Addiction Medicine Foundation and American Board of Addiction Medicine (ABAM). “Thanks to the generosity of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, The Next Generation Awards help enable us to meet these objectives.”
The 2016 Next Generation winners are: • Aaron F. Fields, MD, URMC Combined Addiction Fellowship• Lamia Yeasmin Khan Haque, MD, MPH, Yale University Addiction Medicine Fellowship• Daniel Schatz, MD, Addiction Medicine Fellowship Program at NYU School of Medicine • Mark G. Sinclair, MD, Institute for Family Health Fellowship in Addiction Medicine • Daniel E. Warren, MD, Oregon Health & Science University Addiction Medicine Fellowship • Deanna Wilson, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins Family Program for Prevention and Recovery Care:
The Addiction Medicine Foundation has supported the establishment of 40 addiction medicine fellowship training programs to date, based at major medical schools and hospitals across North America. The Foundation is committed to establishing a total of 125 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accredited addiction medicine fellowship programs by 2025.
Adolescence is a critical window for addiction, and addiction medicine physicians will be crucial to determining whether the next generation of prevention and early intervention strategies will succeed. The Next Generation Award is for physicians who — by virtue of their goals, abilities and training — will be especially well prepared to lead these efforts. The award application form is completed jointly by the prospective Next Generation fellow and his or her fellowship program director.
An initiative of The Addiction Medicine Foundation, The National Center for Physician Training in Addiction Medicine was established with a grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. The National Center’s goal is to develop a “National Infrastructure for Translating Addiction Research into Clinical Practice.”
Addiction medicine is defined as the prevention of the risky use of substances, including nicotine, alcohol, prescription medications and other licit and illicit drugs, and the evaluation, diagnosis, treatment and management of the disease of addiction and related health conditions. Physicians specializing in this field also help family members whose health and functioning are affected by a loved one’s substance use or addiction. Addiction Medicine was recently recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties as a multispecialty subspecialty – meaning that the field is now part of the mainstream of American medicine and is expected to attract many more physicians to addiction medicine training. ABMS recognition also opens the door for the Foundation’s fellowship programs to apply for accreditation through the ACGME, a process already underway.
Sixteen percent of the non-institutionalized U.S. population age 12 and over – more than 40 million Americans – meets medical criteria for addiction involving nicotine, alcohol or other drugs. This is more than the number of Americans with cancer, diabetes or heart conditions. In 2014, 22.5 million people in the United States needed treatment for addiction involving alcohol or drugs other than nicotine, but only 11.6 percent received any form of inpatient, residential, or outpatient treatment. Of those who do receive treatment, few receive evidence-based care. (There is no information available on how many individuals receive treatment for addiction involving nicotine.)
To address this vast unmet need, The Addiction Medicine Foundation and ABAM are committed to building the addiction medicine workforce. The Addiction Medicine Foundation fellowship programs provide one year of subspecialty training, which is offered to physicians already trained and certified in primary care and other specialties, such as preventive medicine and emergency medicine. While there are also addiction psychiatry fellowship programs that address the need for treatment within the specialty of psychiatry, there is a profound need for knowledge in addressing this disease and its prevention and treatment across primary care and in many areas of specialty care practice beyond psychiatry.
The American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM), a Member Board of ABMS, sponsored the application for the field of Addiction Medicine to be an ABMS-recognized multispecialty subspecialty – meaning that physicians certified by any Member Board of the ABMS can become certified in Addiction Medicine. The ABMS subspecialty recognition of Addiction Medicine has been championed by ABAM.
The Addiction Medicine Foundation is governed by 18 distinguished physicians from a range of medical specialties. For more information, visit www.abamfoundation.org, call (301) 656-3880 or email [email protected].
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