Addiction medicine focuses on the provision of care for persons with unhealthy substance use, substance use disorders, and other addictive disorders (1).

Addiction medicine physicians work in diverse settings, including clinical medicine, public health, education, and research. Addiction medicine physicians treat patients across the lifespan who have different degrees of disease severity—from those at risk, to those with advanced and complicated disease, to those in recovery. An addiction medicine fellowship provides fellows with experience in the prevention, clinical evaluation, treatment, and long-term monitoring of SUDs (2). 

The educational program emphasizes the management of medical, psychiatric, and social sequelae in the comprehensive care of these patients and is informed by a wide range of evidence-based interventions (1).

Sources

1. Association of American Medical Colleges
2. Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)