UCSF/VA Addiction Medicine Fellowship Program

The San Francisco VA Medical Center is offering a 2 year Addiction Medicine Fellowship Program commencing August 2008. This is a VA Central Office funded fellowship for individuals with specialty training in internal medicine, family practice, neurology or pain management. The curriculum combines clinical rotations in addiction treatments, dual diagnosis, PTSD, methadone maintenance, adolescent care, and pain management. Although these take place at the clinical partners’ locations (VA Medical Center, SF General Hospital, Langley Porter Institute, Kaiser Permanente and the East Bay Recovery Center), home base for fellows is at the VA Medical Center. Fixed rotations are combined, particularly in the second year, with elective rotations and a scholarly project in research and/or a review article submitted for publication.

The close affiliation with UCSF provides fellowship benefits including library access, access to research faculty, and recreational facilities. Federal salary provides access to many diverse insurance plans for the fellow and his/her family. Additional funds are available to partially support scholarly activity and conference attendance. The beginning salary for PGY-5 applicants is currently under negotiation, but will remain within UCSF-approved parameters.

University of California regulations require that fellows have an active, unrestricted California medical license prior to starting fellowship training. Out-of-state applicants are encouraged to file California licensure applications at the very earliest opportunity. Federal regulations require American citizenship. Competitive applicants will be invited for day-long visits with faculty.

UCSF Addiction Psychiatry Residency Program

The San Francisco VA Medical Center is offering a 2 year Addiction Psychiatry Residency (Fellowship) Program commencing August 2008. It is jointly funded by VA Central Office and Kaiser Permanente. Eligible individuals have completed psychiatry residency training. The curriculum combines clinical rotations in addiction treatments, dual diagnosis, PTSD, methadone maintenance, adolescent care, and pain management. Although these take place at the clinical partners’ locations (VA Medical Center, SF General Hospital, Langley Porter Institute, Kaiser Permanente and the East Bay Recovery Center), home base for fellows is at the VA Medical Center. Fixed rotations are combined, particularly in the second year, with elective rotations and a scholarly project in research and/or a review article submitted for publication.

The close affiliation with UCSF provides fellowship benefits including library access, access to research faculty, and recreational facilities. Federal salary provides access to many diverse insurance plans for the fellow and his/her family. Additional funds are available to partially support scholarly activity and conference attendance. The beginning salary for PGY-5 applicants is currently under negotiation, but will remain within UCSF-approved parameters.

University of California regulations require that fellows have an active, unrestricted California medical license prior to starting fellowship training. Out-of-state applicants are encouraged to file California licensure applications at the very earliest opportunity. Federal regulations require American citizenship. Competitive applicants will be invited for day-long visits with faculty.

The fellowship program provides addiction medicine experiences in a wide range of treatment settings for applicants who have successfully completed a primary care or psychiatric residency. Fellows are also involved with group therapy, lectures to patients, teaching of residents (internal medicine, family practice, preventive medicine, psychiatric) and medical students. We have graduated 17 fellows from backgrounds of Internal Medicine, Family Practice, Preventive Medicine, and Psychiatry. Plans are in process for accreditation for the Certificate of Added Qualification in Addiction Psychiatry. Fellows must have a medical license in the State of California. The start date for a one-year fellow is typically July 1 of each year, though this is potentially negotiable.

ROTATION SITES

• Kaiser Permanente, Fontana (Chemical Dependency Recovery Program)
• Betty Ford Center, Rancho Mirage, California
• Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Loma Linda (Addictions Treatment Program)
• Loma Linda University (Behavioral Medicine Center Chemical Dependency Recovery Unit)

FELLOWSHIP FACULTY

• Mickey Ask, MD mihran.ask@va.gov, Program Director
• Steve Valenti, MD
• Sean Koon, MD
• Donald Kurth, MD
• Doug Richards, MD
• Garrett O’Conner, MD
• Robert Watrous, MD
• Peter Przekop, MD
• Scott Davis, MD
  

For further information and application forms, contact Ida Foster, Loma Linda University, Nichol Hall, Room 1516, Loma Linda, CA 92350 Tel: (909) 558-4918

A one-year fellowship in Addiction Psychiatry

For information, please contact:
Jeffery Wilkins, MD
Director, Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
8700 Beverly Blvd., Thalians C-301
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Phone: (310) 423-3754
Fax: (310) 423-8397