A 4-Year Curriculum on Substance Use Disorders for Psychiatry Residents

Abstract

The authors describe an addiction psychiatry curriculum integrated in a general psychiatry training program to demonstrate comprehensive and practical approaches to educating general psychiatric residents on the recognition and treatment of substance use disorders. The Massachusetts General Hospital/McLean Hospital adult psychiatric residency training program provides training in addiction psychiatry in multiple treatment settings during the 4 years of residency. Addiction specialists, nonspecialty psychiatrists, and residents and fellows provide training. Adult psychiatric residencies can provide comprehensive addiction psychiatry training that spans multiple treatment settings and postgraduate years by training general staff psychiatrists, senior residents, and fellows to assist core addiction faculty in providing addiction psychiatry education. Substance use disorders are common among patients presenting to general psychiatry treatment settings, and thus it is important that all psychiatric residents be well trained in the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of outpatients with these problems.