Message from the Program Director
Our program promotes inclusive harm reduction and strength-based approaches to treatment of people who use substances. You will develop collaborative relationships with your patients and help them to achieve their personalized goals. — Arthur F. Weissman, MD
The UB Addiction Medicine Fellowship continues to evolve and innovate. Our program remains a cornerstone of advocacy and education in Western New York and has roots dating back over a decade.
In 2011, the American Board of Addiction Medicine (ABAM) accredited the first 10 postgraduate programs in addiction medicine at institutions around the country.
Included in that groundbreaking group?
UB.
Three years later, ABAM established the National Center for Physician Training in Addiction Medicine, charged with developing curricula and training providers to specialize in the field.
Which university was chosen for its headquarters?
UB.
We are dedicated to training physicians who will provide non-stigmatizing, effective, evidence-based treatment to people with substance use disorders.
Currently, almost 60% of the population use one or more substances. People with substance use disorders (SUDs) occupy up to 40% of all hospital beds and 65% of prison beds. However, only 1 in 5 of those impacted by addiction seeks treatment. Our program promotes inclusive harm reduction and evidence-based care. You will develop collaborative relationships with your patients and help them to achieve their goals.
Our fellowship, within our large Department of Family Medicine, focuses on a learning environment that encourages compassion and critical thinking with the guidance of a diverse group of mentors. Our clinical sites include several academic hospitals, residential treatment programs, methadone clinics, a harm reduction center, an adolescent treatment center, criminal justice settings and outpatient dual diagnosis providers.
We collaborate with a robust research arm, the Primary Care Research Institute (PCRI) at UB, where fellows can participated in SUD research. Connect with a collaborative interdisciplinary research team that focuses on establishing trusting relationships with community partners and investigating patient-centered outcomes that matter.
Within this diverse learning environment, you’ll care for a broad patient base, one that includes newborns, adolescents, pregnant women, and people who come from different walks of life, all sharing a common struggle.
Because we accept only two fellows into our program, you’ll receive individualized attention as you train. Our recent graduates come from multiple specialties, including family medicine, internal medicine, psychiatry, emergency medicine, anesthesiology, pathology, and preventive medicine. Rather than requiring you to conform to a one-size-fits-all curriculum, we tailor our curriculum to match your professional interests and goals.
As a result of this training approach, you’ll emerge from our program as not only a community expert in substance use disorders, but as a health care leader poised to train the next generation of addiction medicine physicians. You will be positioned to make system change — to impact research efforts, to shape health care practice and policy, to direct critical resources toward this devastating public health epidemic.
There’s no better time to launch your career in addiction medicine than right now — and no better place to train than right here.
Please contact me if you have questions about our program.
Yours,
Arthur F. Weissman, MD
