Welcome to our program! Our fellowship program will graduate physicians who become leaders in the
field of Addiction Medicine.
MAHEC is the knowledge hub for addiction medicine and technical assistance in Western North Carolina and a national
leader in medical education and clinical practice for the treatment of opioid use disorder in primary care
settings.
Our faculty have created a strong and supportive curriculum to ensure physicians are comfortable and knowledgeable in
treating substance use disorders in primary care settings. Our fellowship provides a unique opportunity to practice
team-based care across a variety of settings and populations.
The goal of our fellowship is to train physicians to provide addiction treatment services in rural and medically
underserved communities in Western North Carolina where these services are needed most and overdose rates are higher
than state and national averages and rising.
Fellows will train at inpatient and outpatient sites that provide treatment and recovery services for vulnerable
populations. Interdisciplinary training includes medical detoxification, pharmacotherapy, motivational interviewing,
psychosocial approaches, harm reduction, 12-step facilitation, working with peer support specialists, and providing
consultative services.
Upon successful completion of our program, fellows will be well prepared to apply for board certification and
practice in addiction medicine.
Sincerely,
Nathan Mullins, MD Director, Addiction Medicine Fellowship
Excellence: We deliver quality activities and services that our customers and partners value.
Diversity: We promote equity and inclusivity.
Integrity: We act with fairness, transparency, and the highest level of ethics.
Collaboration: We value partnerships and support interprofessional approaches.
Improvement: We continuously innovate and improve our work.
Foundational Principles
Civility: We treat all people with respect and kindness, all the time.
Inclusivity: We value the contribution of people different than ourselves and the merits of an
organization that reflects differences in our teams and our community.
Empowerment: We value engagement, commitment, and ownership of MAHEC’s mission, work, and
budget.
Our Commitment
MAHEC is committed to creating an equitable and inclusive place to work, learn, and receive care. We actively recruit physicians, staff, and students from underrepresented minorities, and we strive to implement policies and procedures that value and support diverse backgrounds and experiences. MAHEC does not discriminate on the basis of socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, spiritual practice, geography, disability, or age.
Fellowship Outcomes
The overall education goals and objectives for the addiction medicine fellowship will be obtained through continuity of care experiences, learning experiences, clinical core rotations, program-specific rotations, elective rotations, and scholarly activities. Upon completion of the fellowship, proficiency will be expected in the following:
Assessment and evaluation of substance use disorders across a variety of treatment settings
Withdrawal management in inpatient and outpatient settings
Medical management of addiction care in inpatient and outpatient settings
Addiction screening, intervention and referral for treatment
Provision of consultative care for addiction medicine
Understanding of scientific, socioeconomic, and behavioral factors impacting addiction care
Understanding of medication-assisted treatment/pharmacotherapy
Understanding of laws and legislation pertaining to addiction medicine
Abilty to work with a multidisciplinary team of psychologists, social workers, nurses, counselors and peers in recovery
Educational and Rotational Experiences
One month at MAHEC Family Health Center focusing on office-based opioid treatment (OBOT), where residents work with a multi-disciplinary team (Physician & APPs, LCSW, Peer Support Specialists, RNs, etc.) to coordinate and provide care for patients with a variety of substance use disorders
One month at MAHEC Ob/Gyn Specialists in the clinic working with Project CARA to provide substance use disorder (SUD) care for pregnant and recently post-partum patients
One month in the inpatient psychiatric unit at Sweeten Creek Health & Wellness Center
Two months at Mission Hospital on inpatient Addiction Hospitalist service rounding on patients admitted with SUD-related diagnoses and providing consults to other inpatient services
In addition to the dedicated rotations above, each week on Tuesday afternoons fellows will attend in-person didactics to supplement the ACAAM virtual didactic series. This time is specifically used as an opportunity to discuss recent interesting cases as well as the treatment landscape of Western North Carolina as fellows rotate at different clinical sites. Wednesday afternoons, fellows will have a half day of continuity OBOT clinic at MAHEC Family Health Center.
Alumni Comments
What initially attracted you to this program?
"Being from Appalachia, I wanted a program that really focused on providing care to local underserved populations. When looking at the programming different fellowships offered, I wanted something that offered a variety of experiences both in and out of the hospital. MAHEC really seemed to sit perfectly at the intersection of those needs."
— Corey Cox, Class of 2021
What aspects of the program exceeded your expectations?
"The people. I could tell during my interview that faculty and other residents were passionate about their program. It is always energizing to work with people who enjoy and excel at their jobs. The faculty and quality of teaching were always phenomenal."
— Corey Cox, Class of 2021
What was the most rewarding part of your fellowship experience?
"A community and network."
— Corey Cox, Class of 2021
How did you find living in the area during your fellowship?
"Asheville is great. Outside of the program, it is a beautiful, vibrant place to live. There is no shortage of things to do. I think Asheville, uniquely, has a large percentage of folks who are interested in helping others and supporting people who are doing work for underserved people."
— Corey Cox, Class of 2021
What do you wish you had known before starting the program?
"I wish I had known how important people are to a great residency. I feel like so much emphasis is put on community program vs. academic, opposed vs. unopposed, etc., and not enough emphasis is placed on finding people and a community that you can learn from and thrive in."
— Corey Cox, Class of 2021
How has your perspective on your field or industry changed as a result of this program?
"I gained a whole new insight into the field of addiction. I had so many friends and family members that were affected by addiction that I unknowingly developed so many of my own biases about people with substance use disorders. I’m so thankful to have unlearned that in this program. It has allowed me to work in an incredibly rewarding and needed field."
— Corey Cox, Class of 2021
What opportunities have opened up for you since completing the program?
"I thankfully got a lot of exposure to Opioid Treatment Programs and working with methadone in the treatment of Opioid Use disorder. Since the emergence of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, methadone has once again become an invaluable tool to treat some of our most vulnerable people."
— Corey Cox, Class of 2021
Dr. Nathan Mullins is a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist and addictionologist with expertise in substance used disorders in pregnancy. He works as the medical director for an opioid treatment program as well as part-time faculty for the Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) Ob/Gyn residency program. Dr. Mullins earned his medical degree from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and completed his residency at MAHEC.
Dr. Mullins obtained his DATA-2000 waiver in 2016 and began treating pregnant and postpartum patients with buprenorphine for opioid use disorder as part of a multidisciplinary team at MAHEC where he supervises and educates MAHEC residents and serves as a consultant for community physicians on the treatment of opioid use disorder in pregnant patients. Dr. Mullins is also the medical director for a community-based opioid treatment program that uses both methadone and buprenorphine to treat opioid use disorder.
Clinical Pharmacist
Program Director, Pharmacy Residency PGY2 Ambulatory Care
Director of Research, Project CARA
I was born and raised in Northern Virginia as the youngest of four into a vivacious Belgian family. Due to my love of math and science, I studied chemical engineering and Spanish at Virginia Tech. After my undergraduate education, I attended Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Pharmacy in Richmond, Virginia, where I continued to use my Spanish working in a free health clinic. I expanded my knowledge of the older adult population through a Certificate of Aging with the Department of Gerontology. My passion for underserved and geriatric populations drew me to MAHEC. I am extremely humbled to be part of this organization!
Beyond the pharmacy world, I am an avid traveler and love immersing myself in new cultures. I am a big fan of all Washington DC sports and the Belgian soccer team. I spend as much time as possible outside running, hiking, exploring, and surrounding myself with family and friends.
Clinical Director of Substance Use Disorders at MAHEC
Professor of Family Medicine, UNC Chapel Hill
Diplomate of the American Board of Preventative Medicine, Board-Certified in Addiction Medicine
Special Interests: Treatment of opiate use disorder
I am from Missouri and still a big Cardinals baseball fan. I went to undergraduate school at the University of Missouri at Columbia and spent the coldest winter of my life in Chicago for a year before starting medical school in Nashville, Tennessee. I completed my residency at MAHEC in 2001 and have been on the faculty ever since.
What brought me to the residency, and what keeps me here as faculty are the people at MAHEC. The faculty are very committed to helping the underserved and teaching residents and students. The Asheville area made the choice to stay here a lot easier.
I love mountain biking and trail running, and the hiking around here isn’t bad either. I hope you get to visit us and see what a great city Asheville is, see the great outdoor activities available here, and the high quality residents and faculty.
Assistant Program Director, Addiction Medicine Fellowship
Faculty, Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship
Hey there! I’m Carriedelle Fusco and I’m a Family Nurse Practitioner. I grew up in Wilmington, NC on the coast but was lucky enough to spend part of the summer in Montreat just outside of Asheville. I attended undergrad in Raleigh and spent some time in Wyoming and Southern Sudan before returning to nursing school. The mountains have always had a piece of my heart and I moved here in 2006. I worked as an ER nurse for several years before attending graduate school at Vanderbilt. My husband Matt and I have two cattle dogs. We enjoy being outside as much as possible and traveling in our camper for biking, hiking, and other adventures.
I joined MAHEC in 2012 as part of a grant focused on appropriately and safely prescribing opioids. That work led me to work with a team to launch a clinic for treating opioid use disorder at MAHEC Family medicine. This work expanded to training healthcare providers about safe opioid prescribing and treating substance use disorders. I was the first advanced practice provider approved to teach the buprenorphine waiver training in the US. In 2018 we launched a Substance Use Disorders elective through the UNC-SOM and in 2020 we started an Addiction Medicine Fellowship. I’ve also worked with WCU to train FNP students since 2016. I absolutely love working with an organization that is always ready to respond to the needs of our community and I’m excited for what our future holds!
Dr. Marietta joined MAHEC Ob/Gyn Specialists in January 2023 after working for seven years as a rural family medicine physician in Polk County, NC. She completed her Family Medicine Residency in 2012 at Santa Rosa Family Medicine Residency, and she was board certified in Addiction Medicine in January 2022. She is passionate about caring for pregnant and parenting people with substance use disorders and working to bring these services to more people in rural communities. She also has specific interests in comprehensive reproductive health access, providing gender-affirming care, and teaching medical students and resident physicians. Outside of work, she enjoys yoga, hiking, swimming, visiting local fairs and farmers’ markets, and exploring all the beautiful nooks and crannies of Western North Carolina with her family.
Associate Program Director, Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship
Dr. Dustin Patil is an Addiction Psychiatrist at the Julian F. Keith Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Center and an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina. He earned his medical degree at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. He completed his general psychiatry residency training at Boston Medical Center/Boston University School of Medicine, where he also completed a fellowship in addiction psychiatry. He is board certified in addiction psychiatry, general psychiatry, and addiction medicine.
Despite an undistinguished pseudo-academic career, bereft of any honors, he enjoys his work treating patients with substance use disorders and teaching trainees about addiction.
Stephen A. Wyatt, D.O, is a Board-Certified Psychiatrist with added subspecialty certification in Addiction Psychiatry. He practiced emergency medicine for 12 years prior to entering a psychiatry residency at University Hospitals of Cleveland. He was then accepted into the NIDA clinical research fellowship in addiction psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine. He is an adjunct professor of psychiatry at University of North Carolina. He is a past president of the AOAAM. He is the current Chairman of the NC Psychiatric Associate Addiction Psychiatry Committee and Vice Chair of the Coalition on Physician Education in Substance Use Disorders a national organization focused on addiction medicine medical school education. He was a Co-Chair for the 2020 focused update of the ASAM Clinical Guidelines for Office Based Opioid Treatment. He is a clinical expert for the SAMHSA funded Provider Clinical Support System, PCSS; Medication Assisted Treatment and Implementation Projects.
Brendan Crow was raised in Charlotte, NC spending an excessive amount of time swimming and bicycling. He first attended college at UNC Wilmington studying accounting and business before working several years in health informatics. While living in California and volunteering in several community organizations, he was drawn toward practicing primary care and learning the structural causes of disease and health inequities. He completed a post-bacc at UC Berkeley Extension before attending medical school at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.
He was drawn to MAHEC by its broad scope primary care training and interest in delivering equitable care. His professional interests include anti-racism and social medicine. Among his other interests he enjoys open water swimming, bicycle touring, and spontaneous local adventures with his partner, Lisa, and their two kids.
MAHEC (Mountain Area Health Education Center) was established in 1974 and serves a 16-county region in Western North Carolina. MAHEC is the largest Area Health Education Center in North Carolina and evolved to address national and state concerns with the supply, retention, and quality of healthcare professionals. MAHEC’s approach to caring for patients is based on an advanced care team model. MAHEC's Biltmore campus houses residency training programs in family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, general surgery, pharmacy, and dentistry.
MAHEC's Biltmore campus is also home to UNC Health Sciences at MAHEC, an academic health center in partnership with UNC-Chapel Hill that includes programs from the UNC School of Medicine, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, and UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.
Mission Hospital
Mission Hospital, an operating division of HCA Healthcare located in Asheville, NC, serves as the regional referral center for tertiary and quaternary care in Western North Carolina and the adjoining region. Mission Hospital is licensed for 730 beds and houses the region’s only dedicated Level II trauma center. It also includes Mission Children’s Hospital—the region’s only children’s hospital. The flagship hospital of Mission Health, Mission Hospital was ranked as one of the nation’s Top 100 Hospitals by Truven Health Analytics from 2009 to 2015.
Behavioral Health Group
Behavioral Health Group is the largest network of Joint Commission-accredited outpatient opioid treatment and recovery centers in the U.S., with 64 locations across 14 states. BHG provides comprehensive, evidence-based, medical and behavioral therapies including FDA-approved medications (buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone), counseling, and wraparound services for individuals with opioid use disorder.
The Charles George VA Medical Center
The Charles George VA Medical Center is a Joint Commission-accredited, tertiary referral, 1C facility that provides a full spectrum of health services to Veterans residing in a 23-county area of Western North Carolina. The medical center has 119 authorized acute care beds (including a 16-bed inpatient psychiatric unit), two state-of-the-art ICUs, 120 authorized community living center (CLC) beds, and 18 beds authorized for a substance use residential rehabilitation treatment program. The medical center also operates community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs) in Franklin, Rutherford County, and Hickory, NC.
October Road
October Road is a behavioral health and substance use treatment services provider based in Asheville and Charlotte. October Road strives to support clients by actively participating in integrated care models, assisting communities in developing recovery-oriented systems of care, and providing proven evidence-based treatment. Services include assertive community treatment teams (ACTT), an opioid treatment program (OTP), intensive outpatient (IOP) treatment, a partial hospitalization program, a men’s residential program, medication management, and outpatient therapy.
Julian F. Keith Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Center
The Julian F. Keith Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Center in Black Mountain, NC (20 minutes east of Asheville) is one of three state-operated ADATCs designed to provide inpatient treatment, psychiatric stabilization, and medical detoxification for individuals with substance use and other co-occurring mental health diagnoses to prepare for ongoing community-based treatment and recovery.
Application Requirements
The MAHEC Addiction Medicine Fellowship accepts applications from July through October. Initial interviews will be conducted as applications are received, ending in October. Applicants will only be considered for an interview at MAHEC in Asheville, NC once application materials have been received.
We will be using the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) for application submission and review. The Addiction Medicine Fellowship program participates in the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), otherwise known as the match.
Applicants will be required to submit:
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Personal statement
One letter from current or most previous residency program director
Two letters of recommendation from physicians who know you well
Medical school transcript(s)
Copy of transcript showing USMLE scores
A list of publications, research, and relevant extracurricular activities
All selected applicants will be required to submit the following:
Mission Hospital’s Application for Appointment
Signed background check verification
Any resident who has a disability, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act, and/or special restrictions on his/her medical license must report this information and any requests for accommodations to the program director and the Graduate Medical Education (GME) office no later than the first day his/her residency program begins.
Prior to starting the fellowship, selected applicants will be required to demonstrate:
Valid full North Carolina Medical License
Completion of DATA 2000 waiver training
A DEA "X waiver" to allow for prescribing of buprenorphine
VISA Sponsorship
MAHEC does not directly sponsor residents or fellows that need a J-1 Sponsorship VISA. Non-U.S. citizen applicants needing visa sponsorship must secure this directory from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG). The ECFMG is authorized by the U.S. Department of State to sponsor foreign national physicians for the J-1 Exchange Visitor visa for the purpose of participating in U.S. programs of graduate medical education or training. ECFMG is designated by the U.S. Department of State as a BridgeUSA sponsor for J-1 exchange visitor physicians enrolled in accredited programs of graduate medical education or training, or advanced research programs (involving primarily observation, consultation, teaching, or research). Although many universities and research institutions in the United States are authorized to sponsor exchange visitors as research scholars, ECFMG is the sole sponsor of J-1 physicians in clinical training programs.
Questions regarding VISA Sponsorship should be directed to the GME office at 828-232-2946 or gme@mahec.net.
Nathan Mullins, MD
Tealok Ray
Olivia Caron, PharmD, BCACP, CPP
Caroline Carter, LCMHCS, LCAS, CCS
E. Blake Fagan, MD
Carriedelle Fusco, MSN, FNP-BC
Amy Marietta, MD, MPH, FAAFP
Jessica McSurdy, MD
Dustin Patil, MD
Zachary White, LCSW, LCAS, CSI
Stephen Wyatt, DO
Brendan Crow, MD
Marc DeBell, MD