The new ACGME-Approved Addiction Medicine Fellowship program provides innovative and interdisciplinary substance use clinical training for fellows, including pain management and community collaboration. 

Fellowship Experience

Our program provides superior training in a collaborative environment. We have specialty clinics across our medical campus, which is anchored by our 1,200 bed inpatient center UAB Hospital—the eighth largest public hospital in the nation. The hospital is in close proximity to the Birmingham VA Medical Center, UAB Hospital Highlands campus, and the Kirklin Clinic.

Patients come from all over the state to take advantage of our life-changing care, offering a diverse population and breadth of clinical learning opportunities. We approach medicine in a multi-disciplinary modality across a broad variety of conditions through mandatory and elective rotations.

Our program collaborates with the UAB Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology to empower innovative research, engage in high-quality patient-centered care, and engage with the community in meaningful and mutually beneficial collaborations. Our faculty and staff have many years of experience treating both the medical and psychological sides of addiction. Our staff combines knowledge and skills from a wide range of areas, including spirituality, social work, communication, sexual abuse, grief, and trauma. This breadth of knowledge creates an educational environment which encourages tailoring treatment plans to meet each patient’s individual needs.

Clinical Training

Inpatient consults take place at UAB Hospital and the Birmingham VA Medical Center. During this rotation, fellows will learn about acute intoxication and withdrawal from various substances, gain experience in starting or resuming medications for opioid use disorder, and use micro-induction techniques for buprenorphine. Fellows will also master inpatient-to-outpatient handoffs and inter-professional communication with acute care teams.

The VA Opioid Reassessment Clinic (ORC), certified by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, is a pain management program. During rotations, fellows will participate in integrated visits with health psychology, addiction medicine, and adult psychiatry to evaluate long-term opioid therapy for chronic pain while promoting whole health approaches. The clinic collaborates with clinical pharmacists, physical and occupational therapists, whole health coaches, and interventional anesthesia and psychiatry colleagues. Fellows can expect extended visit lengths for complex patients.

Beacon Integrated Healthcare, a UAB-affiliated clinic, offers internal medicine, psychiatry, and addiction care to underinsured, uninsured, and justice-involved patients. Fellows will join weekly multi-professional team meetings to align patient goals with care activities. They will learn outpatient withdrawal management, opioid and alcohol use disorder medications (MOUD and MAUD), and contingency management for stimulant use disorders. Additionally, fellows will have the opportunity to perfect motivational interviewing skills through observation and feedback.

Training Conferences

Our current schedule allots a half-day per week to didactics. Topics covered during didactics include but are not limited to: Medical and psychiatric comorbidities, Identification and Treatment of toxidromes and withdrawal syndromes, History of substance use disorder (SUD) and treatment options, including political advances and challenges, Special populations such as pregnant patients, justice-involved patients, adolescents, etc., Emphasis on evidence-base for harm reduction approaches, Acute and chronic pain management in patients with histories of substance misuse, Non-pharmacologic approaches to pain and SUD care, and Preparation for Addiction Medicine boards.

Research Opportunities

There are opportunities to collaborate on a variety of research projects with mentors from many different specialties. Topics span infectious diseases, stimulants, smoking cessation, criminal justice and implementation science. Our current schedule also allots a half-day per week to research and didactics. Topics covered during didactics include medical and psychiatric comorbidities, identification and treatment of toxidromes and withdrawal syndromes, special populations, acute and chronic pain management in patients with histories of substance misuse, non-pharmacologic approaches to pain and SUD care., and preparation for Addiction Medicine boards.

Frequently Asked Questions