Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship

Welcome to MAHEC's Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship!

Welcome to our program! As the only addiction psychiatry fellowship in the state of North Carolina, we are committed to training clinical psychiatrists in becoming proficient in preventing, recognizing, and treating addictive disorders. In particular, we strive to provide graduates with a strong background in both knowledge and experience in treating patients with comorbid mental health and addictive disease.

We strive to provide fellows with a high level of didactic training along with supervision of their patient care by experts in this field of addiction psychiatry and medicine. These ongoing efforts will remain in place to graduate well-trained leaders in the field of addiction psychiatry with a firm foundation in the current evidence of care delivered both equitably and with compassion for those suffering from the disease of addiction.

Our fellowship, located in beautiful Asheville, NC, will give the fellow an opportunity to work with nationally recognized faculty in addiction psychiatry and medicine. There is an emphasis on working with a diverse rural population. The fellow will have the opportunity to rotate through residential, inpatient, and outpatient settings. This is an excellent opportunity for an individual that is looking for an intensive, individualized, hands-on program with a strong series of didactic offerings. There will also be opportunities to participate in a clinical research project.

We invite you to explore our program, contact us with any questions, and submit your application for consideration.

Sincerely,

Susan Whitley, MD

Program Director, Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship

Faculty, Psychiatry Residency Program

Contact

Ben Vockery
Program Administrator
addictionpsychfellow@mahec.net

Symone Simmons
Program Coordinator
addictionpsychfellow@mahec.net

Values Statement

• 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.

The didactics curriculum consists of addiction-related topics such as maintaining recovery; alcohol use disorder; opioid use disorder; hallucinogens; cannabis; stimulants; club drugs; complex withdrawal; gambling; behavioral addictions beyond gambling; and substance use disorders related to mood/anxiety, psychotics, PTSD, ACEs, adolescents, geriatrics, and women’s health. Fellows will also learn the history of addiction treatment, methods of harm reduction, issues of racial/social equity, ethical/legal issues, and how to care for an incarcerated patient.

Fellows are expected to participate in Tuesday afternoon didactics. Fellows will also participate in quality improvement projects and ongoing research projects.

PGY5 Fellows will rotate through the following sites:

• One block at MAHEC’s FM Clinic seeing OBOT patients
• One block (longitudinal) at MAHEC Psychiatry’s outpatient psych clinic
• One block at the Sweeten Creek inpatient adult psychiatry unit
• Two blocks at Mission Hospital doing addiction consults
• Two blocks at the VAMC seeing pain management and addiction consults
• Two blocks at JFK ADATC seeing patients for both detox and addiction rehab
• One block at the Asheville Behavioral Health Group (BHG) OTP/Methadone clinic
• One block at October Road for addiction group therapy
• One block for an elective

Our outpatient psychiatry clinic, the Center for Psychiatry and Mental Wellness, is housed at UNC Health Sciences at MAHEC along with branch campuses of the UNC School of Medicine and a Master of Public Health program jointly conferred by UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and UNC Asheville.

Our fellowship program is located on the same campus with our dental, family medicine, transitional year, internal medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, pharmacy, psychiatry, and surgery residencies, which provides an optimal environment for cross-fertilization of ideas and collaboration.

Application Requirements

Applicants must have satisfactorily completed a Psychiatry residency program, have DEA certification, and be eligible to obtain a license to practice medicine in North Carolina through the North Carolina Medical Board. Applicants with a J-1 visa will be considered, but must be ECFMG-sponsored.

Applicants will be required to submit:

• Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• Personal statement
• Three letters of recommendation
• One should be from a residency program director
• Two should be from psychiatrists
• Medical school transcripts
• Current licensure information

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.