Clinical Training Sites

Inpatient Psychiatry: The unit has a capacity of 24 adult beds with services for consumers with acute severe mental illness, geriatric inpatient services, substance use detoxification and electroconvulsive therapy. The unit serves a comprehensive patient population inclusive of (1) local individuals (2) individuals belonging to the United States’ hardest hit opioid epidemic regions, including Southwest Virginia and West Virginia and (3) individuals with substance/alcohol use disorders from portions of North Carolina and Tennessee. The fellow will learn how to assess and provide medical and psychotherapeutic treatment to these patients with substance or alcohol use disorder and other existing co-morbidities during their acute inpatient stay and engage patients in the process of recovery and motivation for change.

Medical Toxicology: A consultation program that is a teaching service at the University of Virginia Medical Center, which hosts the Blue Ridge Poison Center (BRPC) region. BRPC offers the highest quality service through a 24 hours-a-day availability staffed by licensed nurses and medical toxicologists who are members of the UVA emergency department with approximately 500 consultations per year. Consultations involve misuse and overdose on drugs and or alcohol. The fellow will learn about (1) scientific principles of toxins and poisoning, drug intoxications and diagnosis and management of patients with toxin exposures and drug intoxication (2) appropriate utilization of clinical and toxicology laboratories to detect suspected drugs of abuse (3) and also about synthetic and new drugs of abuse.

Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry: Services will be provided to all medical and surgical units within the University of Virginia Health System. The fellow will collaborate with the other medical specialty team members and act as a team leader while performing medically supervised withdrawal and stabilization of patients destined for treatment in one of the other addiction components. Additionally, the fellow will learn to provide motivational interviewing to the patients on these units.

Outpatient Addiction Clinic: Delivers outpatient treatment to adults with substance use disorders or alcohol use disorder and associated comorbidities. The fellow will provide pharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatments to patients and develop skills appropriate for the establishment and maintenance of care.

Office Based Opioid Treatment: Offers outpatient treatment to adult patients with opioid use disorder. The fellow will provide continuous care using medication-assisted treatment (buprenorphine and naltrexone). Treatment will include assessment, induction, withdrawal management, counseling, treatment planning and coordination of outpatient services.

Pain Clinic: The fellow will spend his or her time in the Pain Management Center (PMC) and also attend pain center didactics. The PMC is housed in the Musculoskeletal Center, which allows immediate, informal consultation with Psychiatry, Musculoskeletal Radiology, Orthopedics, Neurosurgery and Physical and Occupational Therapy. The fellow will learn to evaluate patients with all types of chronic pain syndromes and assess for addiction. The fellow will also help create a therapeutic plan of pain management and addiction treatment which integrates the data collected ad reflects discussion with the Pain Service attending. The fellow is will learn modalities of treatment including pharmacological treatment, regional analgesic techniques (single treatment and continuous) and other non-pharmacological approaches such as therapy and relaxation.

 HIV Clinic:  The UVA Ryan White HIV clinic provides treatment, counseling and education for patients with HIV and AIDS. The fellow will provide psychopharmacologic and psychotherapeutic treatment to high-risk patients diagnosed with HIV, psychiatric disorders and substance use disorders.

Student Health Substance Abuse Group: The fellow will practice harm reduction techniques and evidence-based early interventional strategies in the college student population to prevent risky behaviors associated with alcohol or substance use. The fellow will also have the opportunity to practice screening, brief intervention and motivational interviewing on UVA students struggling with addiction. The fellow will collaborate with a diverse group inclusive of nurse practitioners, registered nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, professional counselors, rotating psychology doctoral students and rotating residents. They will work together to provide quality care to University of Virginia students struggling with alcohol or substance use disorder.

Maternal and Fetal Medicine: In this rotation, fellow will provide psychopharmacologic and psychotherapeutic treatment to pregnant women struggling with substance use disorder.

Addiction Research: This rotation assists the fellow in developing scholarship in research pertaining to addiction medicine. The fellow will be encouraged to participate in developing research ideas, research protocols, data collection and analysis, and dissemination of the findings. The fellow will have the opportunity to participate in ongoing research trials as Co-PI and will be encouraged to help with grant writing and preparation.