Addiction Medicine Interest Group
One in ten Americans struggle with addiction. Regardless of specialty, all physicians will encounter addiction in their patients during their career. Addiction is a chronic disease, much like Type II Diabetes and cancer. It is not merely a choice, but a disease that is caused by a combination of factors, including genetic predisposition and environmental exposure to alcohol and other substances.
The Addiction Medicine Interest Group (AddMed) serves to raise awareness about the disease of addiction. It is important, as future physicians, to reduce the stigma around using drugs as well as helping our patients stay as safe as possible. Our goal is to educate physicians-in-training about the bio-psycho-social complexities of addiction, the recovery and treatment process, the impact of addiction on patients and families, and harm reduction practices. Our aim is to foster empathy and understanding among students toward people who use drugs.
Events
We will host talks with addiction medicine physicians to help students further understand the world of addiction medicine, provide research and shadowing opportunities, and provide students the opportunity to attend treatment meetings hosted by Above and Beyond Treatment Group. It is our goal to promote harm reduction practices by having overdose prevention and Narcan trainings and hosting harm reductions focused discussions. We will also be hosting events during national harm reduction week in the spring and as well as providing resources for students looking to participate in X-waiver training.
Contact Us
Board
President: Tayler Garis, tgaris@luc.edu
Vice President: Drishti Jain, djain3@luc.edu
Secretary: Zach Kittrell, zkittrell@luc.edu
Treasurer: Brigid Walsh, bwalsh@luc.edu
M3 Representative: Katie McNamara, kmcnamara3@luc.edu