Addiction Training: Striving to Fill an Unmet Need

• Published in: Academic psychiatry Vol. 40; no. 3; pp. 451 - 453
• Main Authors: Das, Smita, Roberts, Laura Weiss
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.06.2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Accreditation; Addictive behaviors; Alcoholism; Behavior; Behavior Change; Behavior Modification; Behavior, Addictive - therapy; Curricula; Death; Drug abuse; Drug addiction; Drug use; Editorial; Fellowships; Graduate Medical Education; Health care industry; Health Manpower; Health services; Health Services Needs and Demand; Humans; Interdisciplinary aspects; Interviews; Labor Force; Medical Education; Medical students; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental health care; Mental Health Programs; Narcotics; National Surveys; Negative Attitudes; Obesity; Patients; Physicians; Psychiatrists; Psychiatry; Psychiatry - education; School Psychologists; State Surveys; Student Personnel Workers; Substance Abuse; Substance abuse treatment; Substance use disorder; Substance-Related Disorders - therapy; Teaching Methods; Tobacco; Workforce; United States > US
• DOI: 10.1007/s40596-016-0535-x
• ISSN: 1042-9670

In a recent national survey, an estimated 27 million Americans aged 12 years or older (10.2 % of the population) had used an illicit drug in the past month, and yet only 11 % receive treatment at a specialty facility [1]. [...]abuse of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs is costly to the USA, resulting in more than $700 billion annually in costs related to crime, lost work productivity, and health care [2]. With the passage of the Affordable Care Act and the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act in the USA, insurance coverage for substance use disorders has increased. [...]for a country of over 320 million people, there are only about 2000 board-certified addiction psychiatrists and about 2500 physicians certified in addiction medicine [6]. Because of the small number of specialists relative to the extraordinary level of societal need, the integration of addiction-related curricular topics into medical education and psychiatry residencies is critical. Gambino, Pavlo, and Ross [16] offer psychiatry trainee reflections on what it means to engage in recovery-oriented care, using the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration definitions. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.