Addiction Psychiatry
One-year Addiction Fellowships affiliated with Harvard Medical School offer exposure to a wide range of clinical opportunities.
Welcome to the Partners Healthcare Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship website. Substance abuse is a major public health problem. Approximately 14.6% (1) of the U.S. population experiences a substance use disorder sometime during their lifetime and the cost of substance abuse to the public is approximately $246 billion per year. At least 20% of patients in general medical facilities and 30% in general psychiatric units have a co-occurring substance use disorder. We look forward to providing an outstanding learning environment for the professional growth and development of our fellows in the Partners HealthCare Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship. The fellowship provides clinical rotations at multiple Harvard Medical School teaching hospitals including the Massachusetts General Hospital, McLean Hospital, and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Fellows engage in a small tutorial style didactic program with many Harvard Medical School faculty as well as faculty members elsewhere in the city of Boston. Fellows are expected to gain competence and excellence in the practice of addiction psychiatry in public, private and academic settings. Fellows learn evidence based treatments and enjoy increasing opportunities to participate in the development of the field’s knowledge base through research and writing. We place a special emphasis on a fellow’s active participation in their own education and welcome their input not only in formal committees but also informally. (1) Kessler RC, Bergland P, Demler O, Jin R, Merikangas KR, Walters EE: Lifetime Prevalence and Age of Onset Distributions of DSM-IV Disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Arch GenPsychiatry 2005;62:592-602. Click here to view our Core Faculty Click here to view our Educational Activities
Important advances have been made in the addiction field. Neuroscience has advanced our understanding of addiction as a brain disease. New pharmacological and psychosocial treatments have been developed in the last decade and the evidence base for their effectiveness is growing.
The primary goal of the one year, full-time Partner’s HealthCare Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship is to train outstanding psychiatrists who will become experts in the field of psychiatry. Graduates of the fellowship may pursue careers in the clinical care of individuals with substance use disorders and their families, research, education, or a combination of these activities. In general, the fellowship is a one-year full-time clinical fellowship. However, beginning in 2007, for fellows who have established a research mentorship within the HMS department, we have been able to offer the fellowship half-time for two years to be complemented by a half-time research position.
PROGRAMThis one-year full time fellowship in addiction psychiatry is for graduates of accredited psychiatry residencies during the PGY–V year. The fellowship is designed to meet the objectives of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). In 1999, the program received full accreditation from the ACGME Residency Review Committee and was re-accredited in 2004. Psychiatrists completing the fellowship are eligible to take the ABPN exam for Added Qualifications in Addiction Psychiatry. Beginning in 2007, for fellows who have established a research mentorship within the HMS department, we have been able to offer the fellowship half-time for two years to be complemented by a half-time research position.
SITESClinical training is based at four sites including the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, McLean Hospital, and North Charles Foundation.
TRAINING EXPERIENCE Core training will include an overview of the field of addiction psychiatry with an emphasis on identification, assessment, diagnosis, and successful treatment. Training is provided in individual, group and family therapy using techniques that include motivational interviewing, education, cognitive behavioral therapy, relapse prevention, psychopharmacology, dynamic psychotherapy, and twelve-step facilitation. Training is provided across the spectrum of levels of clinical care including inpatient, partial hospital, intensive outpatient, outpatient, hospital consultation, and methadone maintenance outpatient clinics. Fellows are exposed to a range of twelve-step and other self-help programs and learn about integrating these treatment modalities into the overall program for individual patients. Fellows receive exposure to a diverse urban and suburban population from diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds and see patients with a range of substance use disorders, as well as co-occurring psychiatric and medical disorders. Fellows learn to work in a team model with other professionals including counselors, social workers, nurses, psychologists, and physicians from a variety of specialties.
CORE CLINICAL SITES:
The Massachusetts General Hospital Addiction Services
North Charles Mental Health and Training Foundation, Inc
CLINICAL ROTATIONS:
6 months Inpatient/Day Treatment Rotation Outpatient Rotation Outpatient Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Rotation
| 6 months Addiction Consultation and Evaluation Service Rotation Outpatient Opioid Treatment Program (Methadone and Suboxone Treatment) Rotation Outpatient Rotation Outpatient Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Rotation
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Partners GME Policies
The Partners GME department reviews policies on annual basis and these are subject to change for any successive academic year. These policies for the current academic year are available through this link.
Benefits
For information on policies for vacation time, sick leave, holidays, educational leave, family and medical leave act, bereavement time, moonlighting, health and other benefits, please use this link.
A wealth of educational opportunities 
Massachusetts General Hospital offers specialized residencies and fellowships in each of our multidisciplinary care centers and clinical departments
