Addiction Medicine Fellowship

Overview

The ETSU Family Medicine Addiction Medicine Fellowship prepares physicians to become leaders in the care of persons with substance use and behavioral disorders in the rural communities of Appalachia. This one-year, clinically focused ambulatory training program combines the resources of the ETSU College of Medicine, local clinics, and treatment centers. It offers fellows exceptional opportunities through a blend of direct patient care, clinical teaching, experiential learning, and scientific inquiry, all within public sector healthcare delivery systems.

Addiction Medicine Fellows will gain and demonstrate competence in patient care, including diagnosing substance use disorders and behavioral addictions. They will learn to manage and treat a spectrum of unhealthy substance use and behavioral addictions.

Why ETSU? GME Training Facilities Application Requirements  

• Video Transcript: Quillen College of Medicine Addiction Fellowship Program Director Overview

  [Music]

  [Speaker: Dr. Joyce Troxler] My name is Joyce Troxler, and I am the program director for the Addiction Medicine Fellowship at ETSU. We are housed in the Family Medicine Department and are located on the VA campus. When you become a fellow in our program, you will get to participate in both the VA hospital for inpatient activities as well as Woodridge and community-based clinics to receive your education and training in addiction medicine. We were formed out of a collaboration between ETSU and Ballad Health, and we became accredited in 2019 by the ACGME. Once you have finished your training with us, you will be eligible to sit for board certification through the American Board of Preventive Medicine. I would now like to turn your attention to Kamran Hayel, who will tell you more about our program.

  [Speaker: Dr. Kamran Hayel] Hi, my name is Dr. Kamran Hayel, and I am an addictionologist and a psychiatrist, and I am the associate program director in our fellowship program here. We hope to attract candidates who are interested in advocating for the treatment of patients with addiction and to overcome the stigma which still exists in our society.

  I think there is an African proverb, which I will paraphrase: alone we go fast, but together we go forward, and I believe we can provide the educational environment for our fellows in East Tennessee to create the next generation of physicians. You get to experience what it is like to work with veterans, because part of your rotation experience will be at the VA Mountain Home here in Johnson City, Tennessee. You will get to work on the inpatient ward. You will get to work with patients who need to experience detoxification. You will get to work with patients who are in a residential setting at the VA. This is a very unique and rare opportunity you will not encounter in many other programs.

  You also get to participate in community-based programs where you will be at intensive outpatient programs, working with area mental health organizations that span from southwestern Virginia to East Tennessee. You will also get to work in stand-alone clinics where they provide opioid office-based treatments. You will also get to work in a methadone clinic. The variety of your experience in our program will be great. Not only do you get to go into clinics and hospital settings, you will also get to learn firsthand from some of the best behavioral specialists in the region how to address your patients’ concerning behaviors and enable them to move forward in their process of recovery. We want to take you from where you are now to the place you can be, which is exactly what we want to do with our patients. We want to start with where you are, help you grow, and achieve something amazing and beautiful.

  Now I want to give you a little bit more personal information. When I came to East Tennessee, I had never been here before. In 2003, I was planning to stay here only for one year to do my work here and then leave, but I fell in love with this place, not just because of having a residency here and working here as a VA attending, as well as working with the ETSU Psychiatry Department, but also because of the environment that you can see here. The beauty of the nature is truly fantastic, and you can enjoy every kind of hiking or any kind of interest that you have, such as fishing, going to the mountains, or driving close by to other states. We have three other states that are close to this place where we live, and you will enjoy the opportunities that exist in this area. It is a very family-friendly environment, and the cost of living is very reasonable.

  Addiction medicine is a new and evolving field. It is a wonderful specialty field, and if you are interested in this area, we have a lot to offer you in our training program that you are not going to find in other places. Thank you for your interest in our program. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. You can find our contact information on our website. Thank you, and we hope to see you soon.

• Video Transcript: Addiction medicine Simona Rasquinha Testimonial

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  [Speaker: Dr. Simona Rasquinha] Hi everyone, I'm Simona. I'm one of the fellows here at ETSU Family Medicine Addiction Medicine. As you may know, this is the first year that this fellowship has taken place. The reason I chose ETSU is because I definitely like the small community feel here, and also Northeast Tennessee has been afflicted by the opioid epidemic. In Johnson City, we definitely have a serious addiction problem. I chose ETSU also because we do provide comprehensive care to all of our patients, including both pharmacologic and psychosocial interventions. I definitely feel support from all the providers, as well as our program director and faculty.

  My favorite part of the fellowship is the people. I really do feel like it is a close-knit program. Everyone is very welcoming and friendly. I really enjoy taking care of our patients and caring for them as a whole. We not only provide care for our patients, but we also provide care for their families as well. For example, if we have a pregnant woman dealing with addiction, we also provide care for her children. We like to intervene early to prevent addiction in the first place. Yes, we certainly collaborate with other professionals. Right now, we do take referrals from the Family Medicine team, so we talk with other Family Medicine doctors and with the pharmacist. In our Addiction Medicine program, we also have a social worker with whom we collaborate very closely. Together, we are working closely to combat the opioid epidemic and to help our patients who are struggling with addiction.

  We want to prevent addiction, and we also believe that addiction is a treatable illness. I highly recommend the ETSU Family Medicine Addiction Medicine program. If you want more informaiton, please refer to our website and contact us. We would be more than happy to provide you with more information.

Clinical Rotations

Fellows, all of whom have completed another residency, will receive training in the knowledge and skills essential for the scope of practice of Addiction Medicine and to develop an identity as an addiction medicine physician.

• Clinical rotations include:

  • Community-based outpatient treatment programs
  • Residential treatment
  • Hospital-based inpatient consultation
  • Opioid Treatment Program facility (managing methadone)
  • Pain management, including utilization of acupuncture
  • Courtroom experience along with learning the intricacies of traversing the requirements our justice involved clients experience (from DCS to probation/parole and incarceration) 

Core Rotations and Continuity Clinics

• Core rotations and continuity clinics emphasize patient-centered communication and the integration of:

  • Primary care
  • Addiction medicine services
  • Harm reduction practice and policies for patients with health disparities from rural, low-income, and stigmatized populations
  • Fellows will select or design electives with their program mentors to either complement their skills and experiences or further develop specific areas of expertise. All trainees will complete an addiction-related mentored scholarly project, either through direct participation in research or by undertaking medical education or clinical practice quality improvement projects that make use of scientific methods.
  • Fellows will also participate in an exciting, world-changing virtual community - ETSU I AM ECHO. Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) is a lifelong learning and guided practice model that revolutionizes medical education and exponentially increases workforce capacity to provide best-practice specialty care and reduce health disparities.