Section of Treatment, Research, and Education in Addiction Medicine

Education and Training

STREAM is deeply committed to training the next generation of healthcare professionals through mentorship, seminars, and training and workforce development programs to provide compassionate, evidence-based care for individuals with substance use disorders.

Training and Professional Development

Undergraduate Medical Education

• Caring for PWUD Flex Week: Elective experience exposing first and second-year Pitt medical students to a variety of experiences focused on caring for people who use drugs to gain a deeper understanding of the barriers PWUD face in accessing care in healthcare settings.

• Substance Use Disorders in General Medical Settings: Elective experience for third and fourth-year medical students, with opportunities parallel to the Addiction Medicine Elective for residents (see below).

• Healing in a Broken System: Clinical and Structural Approaches in Addiction Care: Summer course offered to first-year Pitt medical students that equips them with the knowledge, skills, and critical perspectives necessary to care for people who use drugs within a structurally responsive framework. Students will explore the intersections of drug use, treatment, and policy through a lens that centers health equity, harm reduction, and person-centered and trauma-informed care. The curriculum analyzes the historical and contemporary impacts of criminalization, stigma, and systemic racism on addiction treatment and healthcare access. Students will gain a practical understanding of the structural forces that shape patient experiences and outcomes and approach for providing compassionate, evidence-based treatment of substance use disorders that addresses individual needs and systemic barriers.

• Wilson Scholars: 8-week summer program for medical students between their first and second years that provides clinical addiction experiences, a mentored research project, and tailored didactic curriculum.

Graduate Medical Education

• Addiction Medicine Elective: This rotation introduces Internal Medicine and Family Medicine residents to addiction medicine across inpatient and outpatient settings, including the Substance Treatment and Recovery Service (STARS) at UPMC Presbyterian and the Internal Medicine-Recovery Engagement Program (IM-REP), an integrated primary care and addiction clinic. Additional experiences may include methadone maintenance at opioid treatment programs, post-incarceration transitions, perinatal addiction care at Magee-Womens, and shelter-based services, highlighting diverse patient populations and innovative low-barrier models of addiction treatment. Residents gain hands-on experience managing acute opioid withdrawal (including complicated withdrawal from local adulterants), initiating and continuing medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), and treating other substance use disorders using the latest evidence-based practices. The rotation emphasizes harm reduction approaches to care, motivational interviewing, and patient-centered goal setting, while building residents’ skills in navigating structural barriers to treatment and promoting continuity across the addiction care continuum through multidisciplinary, team-based approaches. To query about away rotations, please contact Dr. Margaret Shang (shangm2@upmc.edu).

• Addiction Medicine Fellowship: Our ACGME-accredited fellowship provides comprehensive multidisciplinary training that prepares fellows of varying backgrounds to manage addiction in a wide range of clinical environments. The fellowship offers additional opportunities for fellows to pursue specialized tracks in perinatal addiction medicine, palliative care, adolescent and young adult health, medical education, and clinical research. Together, the UPMC Addiction Medicine Fellowship equips graduates to advance the field of addiction medicine through clinical excellence, leadership, mentorship, advocacy, and scholarship.

Faculty Career Development

• University of Pittsburgh Collaboration in Addiction Training Scholars (PittCATS) Program (K12): PittCATS K12 provides training to guide scholars towards independent careers in clinical and translational research. Through the K12 Program, scholars are given 75% protected time and $50,000 in researcher funds to achieve its goal of preparing highly qualified junior faculty scholars for independent careers in substance use and substance use disorders (SUD) research, with a focus on the care of patients with substance use and SUD in general medical settings.

Multidisciplinary Training

• Physician Assistant Elective: Elective experience for Pitt PA students with supervision from our addiction medicine advanced practice providers.

• MSW Practicum: Opportunity for MSW candidates to receive a year-long mentorship with our addiction medicine social workers.