The University of Utah Addiction Medicine and Addiction Psychiatry ACGME-approved fellowship programs received a HRSA Addiction Medicine Fellows grant for five years, 2020–2025. The Principal Investigator, Dr. Elizabeth Howell, is board certified in Addiction Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine and has been the Program Director for the Addiction Psychiatry fellowship since 2010 and the Addiction Medicine fellowship since its inception in 2016, with the first fellow starting in 2017. The HRSA grant added four additional fellowship training positions yearly for the next five years, for a potential total of 20 medical sub-specialist trainees.
These Addiction Medicine and Addiction Psychiatry fellows will increase the number of sub-specialists produced by the existing Addiction Fellowships at the University of Utah. The fellows will train extensively in rural, tribal and underserved communities around the state of Utah. Fellows will receive extensive training and supervision in the prevention, treatment and recovery of individuals with Opioid Use Disorders (OUDs) and other Substance Use Disorders (SUDs). Existing and new faculty will receive enhanced training to support the educational mission of the fellowships.
Fellows who have completed training under this program will be tracked for 5 years to determine their practice choices. Ultimately, the Utah Addiction Medicine and Addiction Psychiatry Fellowships Program strives to increase the number of addiction medicine and/or addiction psychiatry sub-specialists practicing in rural, tribal and underserved areas of the US.
Measurable objectives
- Increase the number of addiction medicine and/or addiction psychiatry sub-specialists produced yearly by the University of Utah Addiction Fellowships program.
- Increase formal relationships with underserved, community-based settings to provide training of Addiction Medical fellows in Opioid Use Disorders (OUD) and other Substance Use Disorders (SUD).
- Enhance training in Opioid Use Disorders (OUD) and other Substance Use Disorders (SUD) for faculty from the University of Utah and collaborating community programs.
- Increase the number of addiction medicine and/or addiction psychiatry sub-specialists practicing in rural, tribal and underserved areas of the US.
Clinical Priorities Addressed
- Combatting the opioid crisis
- Combatting the co-occurring crisis of opioid, other substances and mental health disorders
- Transforming the workforce
- Targeting the need for more addiction medicine and/or addiction psychiatry sub-specialists
- Expanding telehealth services
