Present at the meeting, which was chaired by Marc Schuckit, the Director of AMSP, were four new junior scholars, Drs. Donna Londino, Lauren Williams, Christopher Welsh, and Jean-Joel Villier. Also in attendance were five senior scholars, Drs. Marty Hoiness, Marianne Guschwan, Susan Tapert, Vijay Ramchandani, and Laura Bierut. The Research Society on Alcoholism Education Committee was represented by Karen Trocki, and one guest, Dr. Jelena Kunovac, was also present. Dr. Marc Schuckit's assistant, Marcy Gregg, facilitated all meeting activities.

I. Wednesday, October 18th.

The meeting began in the evening with an introductory dinner. Senior scholars had the opportunity of introducing themselves to junior scholars. The history of ASMP was briefly presented, and the agenda for the following two and a half days was reviewed.

II. Thursday, October 19th.

A. A general introduction.

1. The group convened at 8:00 a.m. We began with a review of the history of the founding of the AMSP, the goal of enhancing education in alcohol and other drugs at medical schools, and the criteria for selecting participants in order to enhance educational objectives. Thus, each year four to six scholars are chosen from different universities to serve for two years during which time they learn lecture skills, ideas for impacting on medical school curricula regarding alcohol and other substance use disorders, and career development. The participants were reminded that the first year of involvement includes a $15,000 stipend given to the university to free-up some of the junior scholars time, while the second year incorporates an honorarium which is given directly to the individual senior scholar for each of the two meetings. Junior scholars were reminded that their goals over the three days of meetings will include establishing a lecture topic to be developed for the May, 2001 meeting and then loaded on the website, and that they are expected to develop a tentative schedule of goals for implementing education about alcohol and other substances at their medical school---a task to be completed by the close of the current meeting on Saturday, October 21st.

2. Scholars were reminded that the Spring, 2001 meeting of the AMSP will begin the evening of Wednesday, May 16, 2001, and end at noon on Saturday, May 19, 2001. This meeting is scheduled for the Surf and Sand Hotel in Laguna Beach, California (not far from the Orange County or John Wayne Airport, and approximately an hour drive from Los Angeles International Airport).

B. The group next turned to learning more about the appropriate development of lectures. Dr. Schuckit presented a lecture focusing on how to prepare, present, handle questions, and draw together conclusions regarding any lecture material. This lecture was videotaped and will be available to members of AMSP, as well as individuals from outside our organization.

C. Susan Tapert presented an overview of all of the activities that have developed at UCSD. These have included:

1. The successful implementation of a ten-session elective course. This was held once a week for 50 minutes over the lunch hour, and developed over ten meetings. During each session a topic was briefly presented, and a patient interviewed. This was well accepted by the 12 participants, mostly first or second year medical students, and the course will be repeated this year (Academic year 2000/2001). The course outline will now be posted on the website so other universities might use some of the materials.

2. A series of outreach lectures were offered to a variety of services at UCSD. This included information on alcohol dependence and other drug-related problems to primary care medical students and health care professionals, the emergency room, the dental program at the VA San Diego Healthcare System, the Spinal Cord Injury Unit at the VA, and other groups.

3. Alcohol and other drug education has now been expanded in the program developed by the University of California San Diego/San Diego State University Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology.

4. The Alcohol Medical Scholars Program materials have been made available to a group of medical students who reach out to high school students through a series of one-hour lectures. Marc met with the members of the DOC program in order to help them with their activities, supply them with reading materials, and to serve as a general resource.

5. Additional activities at UCSD include a lecture offered as part of the Pharmacology course to first-year medical students as well as the welcoming lecture to medical students and their family and friends. Each of these emphasizes alcohol and other drug problems. There has also been an enrichment of the ongoing alcohol education carried out to all four years of medical students, second and fourth year residents in psychiatry, and an outreach to family practice residents at the San Diego Naval Hospital.

6. Susan Tapert is actively working on implementing alcohol education as part of the introduction to neurology.

7. Efforts are being made to expand the AMSP website by including more details of texts of the developed lectures, adding the elective, and developing more links to additional websites.

8. Marcy Gregg and Susan Tapert will look into developing copyrights for all lectures presented on the AMSP website to insure that these are not copywritten by anyone else. The final goal is to be certain these lectures are freely available to any individual who wants them.

9. Finally, Marc Schuckit noted that the AMSP website has proven to be a valued resource for clinical teachers in developing countries. He has just returned from a series of lectures in South Africa and Turkey, and is planning an extended stay in India. In each of these instances, clinicians have access to the internet, but do not have easy access to most teaching materials published in books and journals. Therefore, the AMSP website has been a most important resource.

D. Vijay Ramchandani presented an overview of what had been developed under AMSP at Indiana University Medical School. Vijay noted that his efforts in the medical school have been helped immeasurably by his participation in the AMSP. He is especially grateful for the salary offset, and has found the "credentials" of having worked with our group have given him greater access throughout the medical school as he tries to implement programs.

Dr. Ramchandani presented the following accomplishments:

1. He has completed a review of medical education on alcohol and other drugs at I.U.

2. This material is being used to begin to develop a Primer which will be offered to medical students telling them what information they can expect to learn about alcohol and drugs from the diverse courses in the various departments over their four years at the University.

3. Vijay has been able to identify additional faculty at I.U. who are interested and available for enhancing education in alcohol. These include a physician at a local industrial center (Lilly Pharmaceuticals), as well as individuals from the medical genetics group. They are markedly enhancing his outreach within the University.

4. In conjunction with these additional interested individuals, Dr. Ramchandani has developed several target departments, and is working to implement alcohol education within them. These include OB/Gyn, dentistry, as well as individuals participating in a policy-makers series.

5. Vijay presented as a high priority, the expansion of a web-based course for the teaching of alcohol education and information related to other drugs at I.U. This web-based presence is important because there are eight campuses across the state through which individuals participate as their first two years of medical school. It was suggested that a web-based technology might begin by using Dr. Ramchandani's lecture on alcohol pharmacology. He might wish to use the AMSP website to first post this information, thus making sure the University has no problem in free access to it should they choose to use it. The development of such web-based technology would not only be important at I.U., but would also be beneficial to other universities, including those in somewhat rural states such as Alabama, along with the outreach program at the University of Washington which involves support for the medical school from five northwest states. Dr. Schuckit offered to use whatever resources are available to him to help Dr. Ramchandani in this task.

E. The group turned to New York University with accomplishments related to AMSP presented by Marianne Guschwan. These included:

1. The NYU AMSP program has successfully developed a rotation for medical students on the detoxification unit. They now attend the unit for one week at a time where they receive lectures and see patients. Emphasis is placed on how to take a history, develop a time-line, carry out detoxification, deal with dual diagnoses, and how to successfully implement brief interventions. The group congratulated Dr. Guschwan on this accomplishment, and discussed a number of things she might consider doing in order to expand this program without intensifying her work load. These included identifying volunteer clinicians from outside her current unit who might be able to come in once a week or so and give a lecture or provide clinical supervision, the importance of the judicious use of nursing staff and counselors in training MD staff (something that is very successfully done at UCSD), along with other suggestions.

2. Dr. Guschwan has also successfully implemented a program of training four fellows in developing lectures on substance use disorders. This is a four-lecture series that includes reviews of potential topics, resources (emphasizing the AMSP website), hints on teaching techniques, as well as a review of specific lectures to be used. This has been a highly successful program.

3. Jointly with other members of the AMSP (especially Susan Tapert), Marianne has submitted applications to carry out workshops on how to give lectures and develop materials for medical students. The workshop has been accepted for the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry annual meeting and is awaiting acceptance for the American Psychiatric Association (APA) annual meeting. Dr. Guschwan has been included on a panel for another workshop in Opportunities in the Addictions also to be presented at APA's annual meeting.

4. Dr. Guschwan has been utilizing the skills and knowledge obtained through AMSP to teach at Hazelden New York's Physician in Residence program where she interacts with primary care physicians who visit the program for one week where they learn about alcohol use disorders. Here, AMSP teaching materials serve as an important asset.

5. Additional developments in NYU's substance use disorders curriculum include an outreach to teach evening staff on the inpatient psychiatric units, as well as successful implementation and subsequent expansion of the course in addictions offered to fourth year psychiatric residents.

6. In addition to all of these activities, Dr. Guschwan has used the skills developed through the Alcohol Medical Scholars Program to present two lectures on substance use disorders and dual diagnosis to neurology residents, given a Grand Rounds on spirituality to New York University, and presented an overview of similar materials to the St. Lawrence Hospital in upstate New York.

7. There are a number of ongoing priorities that Dr. Guschwan presented. She is currently working with the Director of Medical Education at New York University, Dr. Manley, to be certain that lectures on alcohol and other drugs are appropriately included in the revamping of the current organ-based approach being used throughout the medical school. She is also implementing information regarding alcohol into the Career Night for medical students. She is working with the American Psychiatric Association Residents Committee regarding the possibility of presenting an evening discussion group centering on a movie such as Leaving Las Vegas.

8. Dr. Guschwan is also continuing to work with the American Psychiatric Association's Counsel on Addictions, as well as reaching out to medical education committee members within APA and AAAP to inform them of AMSP as a possible resource particularly as these committees work to produce a core curriculum for substance use disorders for medical students.

F. After a brief adjournment, the group got together over lunch for an active discussion of career development issues. Here, each junior and senior scholar had the opportunity to describe what they hope to develop as career goals at their university. Drs. Schuckit and Trocki, as well as the scholars themselves, discussed issues that included how decisions are made regarding promotion, the assets and liabilities of different types of grants, suggested ways of dealing with chairs and other senior members of departments regarding tasks that they request, the meaning of tenure, the differences between various universities regarding academic ranks, the meaning of different tracks within universities (e.g., clinical versus research), the need for clinical scholars to demonstrate some research activity through collaborations with more full-time researchers, as well as a variety of additional topics.

G. The group adjourned at 2:30 p.m. with an outline of what it hoped to accomplish on Friday, October 20th.

 

III. Friday, October 20th.

A. The meeting began with a demonstration of the lecture on the Genetics of Alcoholism developed for RSA by Marc Schuckit.

B. We next turned to an update of accomplishments at the University of Washington, as described by Marty Hoiness. Marty reminded us that, like I.U., students attend their first year at a variety of different campuses. Therefore, he determined that the easiest place to begin to have an impact is on years two through four. At the same time, Marty will be working with Vijay Ramchandani regarding the possibility of developing an on-line educational program that might be applicable to the different campuses in the first year.

For the remaining years of medical school, the following is a list of the accomplishments made under the sponsorship of the AMSP:

1. Three lectures relating to substance use disorders are now incorporated into the second year of the medical school curriculum during the psychiatry and pharmacology courses. Marty had the opportunity to meet with the individuals who direct these lectures, and has had important input into the content.

2. With Marty's help, the Introduction to Clinical Medicine course now incorporates visits to a 12-step program, and experience interviewing patients with substance use disorders.

3. Marty is working with the team in carrying out alterations in the curriculum as the University of Washington changes to a problem-based approach with a minimum amount of lectures and a maximum amount of working with patients.

4. U.W. is in the process of setting up a second-year nonclinical elective based on the course on alcohol and drugs developed at UCSD. Marty is working his way through the various committees at the University of Washington with the goal of having this course begin in the Spring quarter, 2001. He has already established specific lecturers and is putting together the syllabus.

5. Dr. Hoiness is working with individuals in psychiatry regarding implementing substance use disorder information to third and fourth year students.

6. He is working with members of the committee developing standardized patient educational tools to be certain that information on alcohol and drugs is incorporated.

7. In prior years the third-year medical student lecture series did not contain information on substance use disorders, but Marty has been able to make certain these are now provided.

8. Third-year students now have contact with 12-step meetings, and have the opportunity to participate in a dual diagnosis group under the supervision of clinicians.

9. Dr. Hoiness has developed a program for comorbid borderline personality disorders and substance use disorders which is now part of the fourth-year elective for medical students.

10. A new medical student and resident rotation lasting four-to-six weeks has now been developed at the county hospital. This course focuses on substance use disorders.

11. With Marty's input, the University of Washington now has an outpatient offering to students which emphasizes substance use disorders. There is a parallel outpatient experience regarding motivational enhancement and brief intervention techniques to be used in an emergency room setting.

12. Substance use disorder topics are now being incorporated into the Friday lunch lecture series open to medical students.

C. The group next turned to a demonstration by Susan Tapert regarding how to develop slides on PowerPoint and use the appropriate projectors during presentations. Our group was diverse in levels of experience with PowerPoint, and most of the demonstrations were focused on those with the least amount of knowledge. It is hoped that we will return to this topic at our next scheduled meeting in May in Laguna Beach.

D. Susan Tapert then demonstrated her lecture material on Treating Alcohol-Related problems in Special Populations (women and youth), thus further illustrating the use of the PowerPoint projector.

E. Over lunch, the group had the opportunity of reviewing career development issues. Karen Trocki presented an overview of RSA lectures, and also produced a printout regarding NIH-sponsored training awards. A brief overview of some of the specific awards, their research emphasis, and the proportion of applications that are funded will be posted on the website. Marianne Guschwan reminded us there are a number of additional resources available to Alcohol Medical Scholars who wish to utilize information developed by other groups, including two websites that can be accessed as www.hrsa.gov, as well as www.amersa.gov.

The group discussed issues related to time management as it impacts on career development, with an emphasis on the need to try to structure the day in the way that is most optimal for each individual (i.e., whether a person prefers coming in early and going home earlier, coming in late and going home later, etc.). Then, it is important to have a written schedule that incorporates things that must be done (whether an individual wants to or not), and writes in an appropriate amount of time for those things that need to be done for career development. This structure, along with an emphasis on those things one wishes to do, are, of course, easier to implement in more senior faculty positions where an individual has greater control, but exactly the same elements can be used in optimizing the amount of time that is available by junior faculty individuals. Additional topics were discussed, and the group planned to return to other career development issues the next day.

F. Laura Bierut reviewed the accomplishments related to AMSP at Washington University in St. Louis. These included:

1. Laura has been able to be sure that issues related to alcohol and other substance use disorders are now part of a recurrent theme across the newly-developed curriculum reform courses that touch on ethics, primary care, pathophysiology, etc.

2. Laura is a member of a group at Washington University responsible for revision of the second-year curriculum. She will be certain that alcohol and other substances are incorporated.

3. Dr. Bierut is fortunate in that Washington University has a Dean of the Medical School who is interested in alcohol and other substance use disorders. Laura circulated a monograph on Missed Opportunities which had been forwarded to her by the Dean. These will be given to all AMSP members.

4. A new lecture on comorbid psychiatric disorders, and a lecture on delirium (which includes a component as it relates to substance use disorders) has now been added to the year two psychiatry lecture series.

5. Laura has been in contact with the United States Medical Licensing Examination Board which develops tests for medical students, including a division that is working on patient-oriented exams (OSCI). She is taking steps to be certain that information relating to alcohol and other drugs of abuse is incorporated into these examinations. This may be one of the most efficient ways of making certain that medical students recognize that alcohol and other substance use disorders will be important to them, and that they will need such knowledge to pass examinations in order to practice.

6. Dr. Bierut has presented a lecture to psychiatry residents on how to develop teaching materials and how to give a lecture. This is in an effort to help them improve their teaching skills for medical students and other health care providers.

7. Washington University challenges third-year psychiatry residents to develop practice guidelines to be used in their clinics. Laura is part of this effort, and is making certain that substance use disorder practice guidelines are included.

8. In addition to all these accomplishments, Laura continues to participate in CME efforts, including those related to website learning, making sure that alcohol and other substance use disorders are included.

G. Laura then presented a short overview of her AMSP lecture on Screening and Brief Interventions for Heavy Drinking.

H. Marc Schuckit outlined the material to be covered in the session on Saturday, October 21st. The group then adjourned.

IV. The AMSP participants reassembled for a working dinner and farewell. This was held at Marc Schuckit's house, and gave the scholars the opportunity to interact with each other in a less formal atmosphere.

V. Saturday, October 21st.

A. The morning began with a few housekeeping details. These included:

1. Distribution of a hand-out regarding Doctors Ought to Care (DOC) which is a resource for all medical scholars to use in trying to encourage efforts at their medical schools. More information about this organization through which medical students reach out to young people in their communities can be obtained by e-mailing the National Coordinator, Dr. Alan Blum, at ablum@cchs.ua.edu.

2. The group also received the hand-out on Missed Opportunities brought to our attention by Laura Bierut. The information can be used to demonstrate to administrators and teachers at various medical schools that most physicians leave the medical school environment with very little awareness of alcohol and drug issues.

B. Marty Hoiness from the University of Washington presented his lecture on Alcohol Abuse and Dependence in Gay and Lesbian Populations. His lecture is on the website, and Marty reminded the scholars that the lecture style at the University of Washington requires a very brief (ten minute or so) lecture followed by discussions and patient presentations. However, the material can easily be expanded to a one-hour format by giving a great deal more detail regarding specific items, some of which are offered in the more detailed outline on the website and the reference list. Marty demonstrated how well this presentation lends itself to discussion by leading the scholars through a wide range of issues associated with the topic.

C. The next issue involved the suggestion of Marianne Guschwan that the AMSP should search out additional ways of placing the website address higher in people's levels of consciousness. Consulting with Marty Hoiness who has a background in marketing, it was recognized that some benefit might be obtained by investing money for magnets that could be distributed with our logo and e-mail address, or the possibility of giving away light, portable (plastic) coffee mugs. This raised the issue of the need to be certain that all AMSP members should take brochures whenever they go to relevant meetings. These will be distributed to participants soon. The possibility of leaving stacks of brochures along with magnets/coffee cups in prominent areas at a variety of meetings should be considered.

D. Discussion about the need to make certain that as many people as possible know about the website and AMSP also led to the need to link to as many websites as possible. Susan Tapert will look into this, considering website links to AMERSA, RSA, NIAAA, and ASAM, to name only a few. Marc Schuckit will write a letter to Dr. Blum of DOC to be certain that he knows about our group.

E. The group next turned to a discussion relating to how to review manuscripts. The goal is to help with career development by demonstrating how one might take an article that he or she is asked to review, read the material, and prepare the report. Marc Schuckit and Karen Trocki led the discussion.

F. The junior scholars were next asked to select a potential lecture topic to be presented at the May, 2001 meeting. Chris Welsh selected the topic of the Recognition and Treatment of Impaired Professionals (also considering a possible lecture on Ecstasy and/or GHB, or a lecture on intoxication and withdrawal from alcohol). Jean-Joel Villier selected Alcohol and Drug Use Disorders in African-Americans (also considering possible lecture topics related to alcohol use and problems among individuals who have immigrated to different countries, or a lecture on the relationship between homelessness and substance use disorders). Lauren Williams selected the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (also considering possible lectures on domestic violence or geriatric substance use disorders). Donna Londino will prepare a lecture on Psychosocial Effects of Alcohol on the Family (including information on domestic violence, codependency, and family functioning in the context of substance use disorders). (Dr. Londino also considered the possibility of a lecture on the relationship between substance use disorders and attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity).

The scholars will carry out a literature search and produce an outline of their lecture material by January 1, 2001. This will be sent to Marc Schuckit sooner than that date if at all possible in order to help him give optimal input in a timely manner. Scholars will then receive feedback from Marc, and put together a lecture outline with references that follow the basic structure offered on the website, paying close attention to how references are presented and the manner in which outlines are produced. After the outline is developed, they will proceed to producing drafts of potential slide copy which will also be reviewed with Marc prior to the presentation in May.

The first year of the AMSP experience places a great emphasis on the development of lectures because this is felt to be an essential skill for career development of individuals in academic settings.

G. Marc Schuckit next presented an overview of a suggested way to carry out literature reviews in preparation for the lectures. This involved a discussion of the pros and cons of the use of various standardized literature search approaches (including Medline, ETO from the NIAAA, MAGS, and PUBMED).

H. The discussion next turned to how clinically-oriented scholars might best stay up on the literature. The need to select several journals that would be appropriate for regular reading, while avoiding the temptation of taking on too many journals, was emphasized. In the alcohol field, scholars should consider subscribing or regularly reading the Journal of Studies on Alcohol, and those with a stronger interest in more biological issues, should also consider Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. For those interested in a broad array of alcohol and drug issues, the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, and Drug and Alcohol Dependence might be appropriate. For those with a desire for more reading on issues related to psychosocial and societal influences in substance use disorders, the journal, Addiction, might be appropriate. Of course, psychiatrists would probably find value in The American Journal of Psychiatry, those interested in research should also be considering The New England Journal of Medicine, Science, and Nature. The Journal of the American Medical Association is also likely to be useful to general practitioners, internists, etc. Again, it is important to emphasize the need to select a limited number of journals and not to spread oneself too thin.

I. Dr. Vania Modesto-Lowe at the University of Connecticut sent the group a brief overview of her accomplishments. These included :

1. She developed a four week substance abuse lecture series for the third year medical students rotating through psychiatry. Students have been able to choose from a variety of topics including Risk Factors for the Development of Alcohol Dependence, Diagnosis and Treatment of Dually Diagnosed patients, Detoxification Strategies, Pharmacotherapy of Drug Dependencies, Motivation Enhancement Psychotherapy. Lectures have been delivered by Dr. Modesto-Lowe, residents, addiction fellows, and two senior faculty recruited from the Alcohol Research Center (Lance Bauer and Ronald Kadden).

2. She personally developed lectures and videos on comorbid schizophrenia and substance use disorders, comorbid anxiety and substance use disorders, and lectures on detoxication and on the medical consequences of drinking. The slides are available upon request.

3. She has given various lectures on these topics including Grand Rounds at the University of Connecticut community hospitals, teaching of nurse practitioners, PGY-1 lectures, PGY3 case conferences, and lectures for multidisciplinary staff working at correctional institutions.

4. She has recently become the Director of the Addiction Fellowship Program at the University of Connecticut and as such, has been involved in various activities including setting up rotations, recruitment, etc.

Dr. Modesto-Lowe will expand on her remarks at the May meeting.

J. The group next turned to potential plans regarding accomplishments that might be expected by junior scholars.

1. Donna Londino at the Medical College of Georgia suggested the following:

a. She will consider the possibility of modifying and implementing at her Medical College the elective for first and second year medical students developed at UCSD. This elective is posted on the Alcohol Medical Scholars website.

b. She will also consider the possibility of some CME outreach to practitioners in the community.

c. Donna will look into developing a clinical elective for second- and third-year students using the Youth Development Center, and the HIV Clinic to enhance education on alcohol and other substance use disorders.

d. Dr. Londino will take advantage of several existing programs at her University, each of which can be improved through the skills she is developing through AMSP. These include lectures to nurses regarding alcohol and other substance use disorders in adolescents; working with the local Students for Community Involvement (a program similar to DOC), perhaps highlighting teaching materials on the AMSP website; expanding topics related to alcohol and drugs as part of the ongoing Friday lunches with psychiatric residents; incorporating alcohol and drug-related issues in a Movie Club that has been developed for medical students and residents; incorporating more about substance use disorders into the Board Review Course for psychiatric residents; and expanding CME outreach to providers at the Youth Development Center.

2. Lauren Williams from the University of Miami School of Medicine produced the following list of potential projects to be taken on during her year as a junior scholar:

a. She will review the current state of alcohol and drug education at her University. This will form a baseline to determine what additional programs might be produced.

b. Lauren will establish meetings with the individuals who are responsible for the lecture series in psychiatry, as well as the psychiatry clerkship, in order to determine where alcohol and drugs might be added.

c. Dr. Williams will look into the possibility of helping to start a DOC-like program at U.M.

d. Lauren will look into developing a workshop on alcohol and other drug issues for primary care physicians.

e. She will try to develop an outreach to both OB/Gyn and the Transplant Division in order to inform nurse practitioners and physicians about the importance of alcohol and other substance use problems.

f. Dr. Williams will look into the possibility of developing a preclinical elective based on the UCSD model.

g. She will work with Barbara Mason to enhance the substance use disorders component of Grand Rounds. One step could be to try to identify medical students and/or psychiatric residents with whom she will meet before any alcohol-related lectures to help prepare them for what they are about to hear as part of Grand Rounds, followed, perhaps, by a half-hour meeting after the Grand Rounds in order to help place these experiences into prospective.

h. Lauren will look into greater levels of outreach to the legal system and judges in the Miami area who are interested in enhancing their understanding of substance use disorders.

3. Jean-Joel Villier at Howard University produced a number of potential goals which included:

a. He will begin by surveying all years of the medical school to try to determine which courses offer information on alcohol and other substance use disorders.

b. Dr. Villier will work with the Journal Club offered for medical students and residents to increase the amount of information offered on substance use disorders.

c. Jean-Joel will work with managers of group homes regarding how they are teaching about substance use disorders to physicians and medical students with whom they work.

 

d. He will reach out to the Consult and Liaison Services in the medical school regarding education on alcohol and other substances of abuse for consultants.

e. Dr. Villier will look into the possibility of developing an elective for first- and second-year medical students regarding alcohol and other drugs of abuse.

f. He will also work with the possibility of developing a DOC-like program at Howard University.

4. Christopher Welsh of the University of Maryland produced the following list of potential goals during his junior AMSP year.

a. He will look into developing an elective on alcohol and other drugs for first-year medical students.

b. He will attempt to develop a movie/literature series focusing on substance use disorders.

c. Dr. Welsh will begin to work with medical students who are attending summer schools of alcohol studies (e.g., University of Utah Summer School) to be sure they are well prepared before they go, and to optimize the chance they will take the information they learn and apply it to the University of Maryland when they return.

d. Dr. Welsh will work with the Combined Accelerated Program in Psychiatry (CAPP) medical students (individuals who express in their first year of medical school a desire to learn more about behavioral medicine) to be certain they are being offered an optimal amount of information about alcohol and other drugs of abuse.

e. Chris will work with individuals at his medical school who are revamping the physiology and pharmacology courses as part of the medical school reorganization. He needs to be certain that information given medical students on alcohol and other drugs is as consistent as possible and that the optimal amount of information is being offered.

f. Dr. Welsh will work with third-year medical students to be certain that alcohol and other substance use disorders are an important part of the psychiatry rotation. This was true in the past, but in recent years there has been less interest in this issue, and it is important to reinsert such material into the curriculum.

g. Chris will begin to work with the 25% or so of fourth year students who take a two-month ambulatory care elective dealing with American Indians. Most of the them go to the Native American groups without much information on alcohol, and this is a unique opportunity to optimize their interest.

h. Chris will attempt to take on the responsibility of working with the multiple allied care schools (nursing, dental, pharmacy, social work, as well as law) to be certain the amount of information on alcohol is optimal.

i. Dr. Welsh will use the video tape developed as part of the AMSP, as well as the demonstration of a lecture on How to Give a Lecture, and will modify the material to help fellows in his psychiatry department enhance their teaching skills.

j. Dr. Welsh will expand his activities with the consult service outreach regarding substance use disorders.

k. Chris will attempt to impact on the orientation for all interns (PGY1) to be certain that alcohol and drug education are included.

K. The group next turned to a discussion of the need to consider who will be invited to join AMSP as a junior scholar beginning August, 2001. The following are important considerations:

1. Dr. Patricia Ordorica at the University of Florida in Tampa has a potentially excellent individual to propose.

2. Marc Schuckit has had contact with someone at the University of Oklahoma who has expressed a strong interest in becoming a scholar.

3. Marc Schuckit expressed his desire to be certain that the new scholars also include one or two who come from schools that train fellows in substance use disorders. Here an AMSP member of that group has the possibility of reaching out to fellows within that program. With that in mind, the scholars should consider whether they know of appropriate individuals at Brown University, Yale University, and Penn.

4. While the scarce resources of the AMSP should be used to reach out to as many new universities as possible, any current existing programs that have additional individuals who might be appropriate for AMSP could consider the possibility that these new people could become "ad hoc" AMSP members. While honoraria and salary offsets could not be offered, it is possible that monies might be found to pay their expenses to meetings. With that in mind, Marianne Guschwan suggested Dr. Petros Levounis from NYU.

5. Dr. Tanya Royster, a child and adolescent psychiatrist from the University of Illinois in Chicago, has expressed a potential interest in AMSP.

6. Dr. Steven Madonick of Yale University has also expressed potential interest.

7. Dr. Margaret Rukstralis at the University of Pennsylvania might also be appropriate.

L. Marc Schuckit briefly shared some thoughts on the structure of the next AMSP meeting to be held in Laguna Beach, California at the Surf and Sand Hotel beginning May 16th through May 19th. This will include asking the three remaining senior scholars to demonstrate their lectures (Vijay Ramchandani, Marianne Guschwan, and Vania Modesto-Lowe). The four new scholars will also present their lectures. We will be asking each of the scholars to do a bit of reading on PowerPoint and will have Susan Tapert repeat her lecture, and take the group a step further on the use of PowerPoint. Issues of career development will be discussed. Senior scholars will be asked to give some thought as to how their participation in the program might impact on them in the future. Additional discussions will take place regarding the selection of new scholars. Of course, as has been true in the current meeting, many additional topics will be discussed.

All junior and senior scholars are asked to attend the entire meeting. Please plan to arrive at the Laguna Beach location no later than 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 16th, and stay until the meeting is over on Saturday, May 19th, before noon.

Finally, the dates for the Fall, 2001 meeting were selected. It is tentatively scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 10, 2001, and adjourn at noon on Saturday, October 13, 2001. The probable site will be Hawaii.