Division of  General Internal Medicine

Addiction Medicine Fellowship

Didactics & Scholarly Activities

The UPMC Addiction Medicine Fellowship integrates robust academic and research training into every aspect of the program. Fellows gain experience in evidence-based practice, scholarly communication, and quality improvement while engaging with faculty and peers across clinical, educational, and research settings.

Formal Teaching

Fellows participate in a structured series of conferences and didactics designed to build knowledge, critical thinking, and presentation skills, including:

  • A one-week orientation boot camp during the first week of fellowship
  • A weekly Chief’s Conference covering key addiction-related topics
  • A monthly Addiction Medicine/Addiction Psychiatry Journal Club
  • A monthly Addiction Medicine/Addiction Psychiatry Case Conference or Didactic Session
  • Weekly national virtual didactics hosted by the American College of Academic Addiction Medicine (ACAAM)

Each fellow presents at least once at both a Journal Club and Case Conference and completes a faculty-mentored quality improvement (QI) project. Recent QI projects have addressed topics such as:

  • Universal naloxone prescribing on discharge
  • Implementation of harm reduction services in primary care
  • Inpatient recovery support groups
  • Creation of a database to track outcomes for hospitalized patients with substance use disorders

Advocacy Curriculum and Project
With faculty mentorship, fellows will work individually or collectively on an advocacy project that aligns with their interests. Projects may focus on improving patient access to care, advancing harm reduction approaches to care, influencing policy, or addressing structural barriers affecting people who use drugs.

Scholarly Engagement

Fellows are encouraged to attend and share their work locally and nationally through conferences and community events, such as:

 

For more information, please contact: 

Tiffany Thomas
Addiction Medicine Program Coordinator
dixont2@upmc.edu

Dr. Maggie Shang (left) presenting her fellowship QI project with mentor Dr. Raagini Jawa (right) at AMERSA.

In addition to teaching residents and medical students during overlapping rotations, fellows interested in academic teaching can build their skills in bedside and classroom teaching through the following opportunities:

  • Internal Medicine residency motivational interviewing curriculum
  • Pediatric residency SBIRT curriculum
  • Medical student workshops on topics like harm reduction

 
Our program also supports fellows to apply for national scholarly programs and awards:

 
ASAM Ruth Fox Scholarship Recipients:

  • Reed Nerness MD (2026)
  • Cynthia Pathmathasan MD (2025)
  • Ilana Hull MD MSc (2022)
  • Kento Sonoda MD (2022)