FAQs

What is the Program?

The MultiCare Addiction Medicine Fellowship offers a comprehensive one-year training opportunity to Family Physicians and Obstetricians passionate about providing high-quality integrated care to people with substance use disorders. In addition to Addiction Medicine training, this fellowship provides experience and skill-development working as junior faculty within a thriving community-based residency program.

Our program provides an in-depth experience, with an emphasis on the care of pregnant women with substance use disorders, along with elective experiences selected by each fellowship participant to meet his or her training needs. Our training experience is closely integrated with our Family Medicine residency. This program utilizes a longitudinal schedule to allow fellows to gain experience at several training sites over the course of the year.

What Can be Expected?

Fellows will develop robust outpatient Addiction Medicine skills in a continuity practice as well as a specialized high risk addiction/obstetrics practice based out of East Pierce Family Medicine. 

Fellows will gain experience with:

• Inpatient consultation on complex medical patients with substance use disorders. This allows for intimate knowledge of the medical sequela of chronic substance use
• Inpatient initiation of methadone, buprenorphine or medically assisted withdrawal in a variety of patients
• Participation in the development of an intensive inpatient detoxification/stabilization/treatment program for pregnant women at MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, WA
• Working within private and non-profit opioid treatment facilities where the Fellow will learn how to manage methadone
• Assessment and treatment matching while working with trained chemical dependency counselors.
• Working with a low barrier buprenorphine clinic and Needle Exchange Program through the local health department
• Correctional medicine as it intersects with evidence-based treatment for opioid use disorders
• Pain management programs
• Supervising residents and providing continuity clinic care at East Pierce Family Medicine Residency, including care for inpatient, pediatric, and obstetric patients (as appropriate for their specialty training) with the residency team in a supported manner to build faculty skills and experience

Fellows will have weekly didactic sessions with faculty members in addition to attendance at American College of Academic Addiction Medicine didactics. There are monthly journal clubs with community addiction medicine providers.  As part of faculty development, they will provide didactic addiction medicine lectures for residents. CME will be provided to attend local and national conferences.

We would love to hear from you! Please email Melissa Johnson [email protected] with questions or information about program timelines and application process.

Who is Eligible?

Family physicians with OB training and Obstetricians who have graduated from an accredited residency program and who are board-certified/eligible may apply. We welcome both new graduates and applicants with prior practice experience.