Minutes
of the Alcohol Medical Scholars Program Conference Call
Monday, July 14, 2003
Present on the line were Drs.
Schuckit, Levy, Tapert, Madonick, McQueen, Delos Reyes, Drexler, Akerele, Rose,
Guschwan, and Marcy Gregg.
Marc began with an
overview of several housekeeping issues. First, he wanted to congratulate the
graduating second-year scholars for the wonderful job they=ve done.
We all hope that everyone keeps in contact, and that efforts continue to
the possibility of developing an alumni group.
Second, Marc reminded all
of the first-year scholars about the next meeting in October, 2003.
Everyone has been sent a
brochure, and the hotel should be marvelous. Scholars need to be certain they have made their airline
reservation in as cost-efficient way as possible, and be there and ready to
start work on Wednesday, October 22nd at 5:00 p.m.
Marc then reviewed the new
scholars. These include individuals from the Universities of Oregon,
Colorado, Pittsburgh, and South Carolina.
The fifth slot has been reserved for a physician at the National Alcohol
Institute who will be leaving the NIH to join a university this next year. He will not officially be a member of
AMSP, but will graduate into a formal role in the near future.
We then progressed to a brief
overview of the progress made over the prior four months by our Senior
Scholars.
1. Woody Levy
discussed the fact that he will be supervising a Fellow in Addiction PsychiatryCthis position started July 1, 2003. In addition, Woody has delivered a
seminar on Substance Use Disorders to 100 first-year medical students; offers a
one and one-half hour lecture approximable every eight weeks for 20 medical
students; is in charge of the substance use disorders rotation for psychiatric
residents; is scheduled for Grand Rounds for the Department of Psychiatry when
he will deliver his lecture on Substance Use Disorders among Athletes; is
currently in the process of developing two papers for publication; and is about
to be considered for promotion to an Associate Professor.
2. Steve Madonick has
recently assumed a new job at the Institute of Living which places him into a
position to be on faculty at both the University of Connecticut and Yale. He will be continuing to work to
optimize medical school education on substance use disorders in both
institutions. These prior months,
he has taught both 3rd and 4th year medical students
regarding substance use disorders
among schizophrenics; is a resource for the importance of substance-related
problems in the Psychosis Program; works with medical students and residents
regarding enhancing the information on geriatric substance use disorders (his
AMSP topic), and he continues to work to expand his academic career.
3. Evaristo Akerele
has just been appointed Co-Director of the Substance Use Disorders Fellowship
at Columbia. This places him in an
excellent position to continue to reach out to additional students and
residents in the future. In
addition, he has delivered lectures on substance use disorders comorbidity at
both St. Joseph=s Hospital and Downstate Medical Center; coordinates the medical
student/resident/fellow education in Comorbid Disorders, and is developing
grants regarding research in comorbidity.
4. Margaret Rukstalis
became Director of the Outpatient Addiction Psychiatry Resident Education
Program and has given presentations on how to give a lecture and substance use
disorders in women to first-year medical students; plans a fall lunchtime
elective lecture on mentoring; supervises outpatient psychiatry students;
continues to serve on the Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Advisory Committee;
submitted an R01 grant application; is active on the Committee on Women for
Pennsylvania Psychiatric Society and will co-chair this year=s annual Forum on Women=s Mental Health; and continues to pursue her interest in introducing
AMSP techniques to a medical school in Croatia.
The conference call then
progressed to a description by the First-Year Scholars (about to graduate to
Second Year).
a. Katie McQueen announced that since joining AMSP she was able to
receive a two-year Career Development Award at Baylor University to protect 90%
of her time for career development and research. She is going to follow-up on this award with a K-23 NIH
application to garner three additional years for career development. Also important to AMSP, Katie is
helping the State of Texas to write a grant regarding brief interventions in
substance use disorders; has written a well read and well circulated White
Paper on Substance Use Disorders;
is responsible for the test for core medical students (in which she will
have the opportunity to emphasize substance-related problems); has recently
received permission for three hours of lectures on substance use disorders for
medical students; and was invited to present to the Virginia Summer Institute
on Addictions, where she will discuss the interdigitation between primary care
and substance use disorder education.
b. Chris Delos Reyes was recently appointed the Coordinator for the
second-year medical student education regarding substance use disorders, and
she will give four hours of lectures to second-year students, focusing on her
material developed through AMSP, as well as on brief interventions. At the same time, she has recently had
a book chapter on screening and intervention with substance use disorders
published for the American Society of Addiction Medicine; is looking forward to
promotion to Assistant Professor in the fall of 2003; gives a lecture to child
and adolescent fellows regarding substance-related problems; offers a 90-minute
lecture on substance use disorders in the emergency setting; is planning to
co-write a chapter on dual diagnosis for an upcoming text; and has a meeting
planned with the Ohio Addiction Services Board to expand education and service
delivery in this area.
c. Karen Drexler just received the Dean=s Teaching Award from Emory University. This is offered to only approximately ten faculty members
across the entire medical school in recognition of outstanding medical student
teaching. She also directs the 2nd
year medical student education in substance use disorders, supervising a
12-hour block of lectures, and directs the Addiction Psychiatry Residency
Program. At the same time, she was
selected to deliver a lecture on Advances in Medicine to the entire 3rd
year medical student class. Thus,
she is working hard to implement substance-related education in her medical
school, is well recognized for her efforts, and continues her research career.
d. Gail Rose has markedly expanded her number of hours teaching medical
students and residents. In
recognition of this she has been asked to deliver a lecture on Brief
Intervention to a continuing medical education conference sponsored by her
university, has been asked to help the State of Vermont compete for a grant
regarding substance use disorders treatment throughout the state, and her
teaching efforts were specifically mentioned by her Department in her academic
reevaluation this year. In
addition, Gail delivers a one-year lecture on brief interventions to the entire
3rd year medical school class, serves on a number of medical
education committees, and participates actively in research.
The meeting ended with an
overview by Susan Tapert of how impressive the website is functioning, with
recognition that we have been visited by persons on every continent other than
Antarctica, the number of people spending time on the website has increased
five-fold since the inception of the site, and there is evidence of extensive
downloading of lectures. In
addition, it appears as if a higher and higher proportion of people are coming
to our website through additional education and substance disorders-related
websites, indicating that we are serving people in our field who are most
likely to be involved in education and delivery of care in substance-related
problems.
The Senior Scholars were bid
a sad farewell. The rest of us are
very much looking forward to our get together in October.
The meeting was adjourned.
Marc Schuckit, M.D.
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