Table 1.
Actions to enhance training in addiction medicine |
For infectious disease fellows |
○ DATA waiver training for all ID fellows |
○ Fellow rotations in addiction medicine |
○ Cross-disciplinary training programs (FIT, Ruth Fox Scholarship) |
○ Development of ID/addiction tracks within ID fellowship programs |
○ Creation of combined ID/addiction fellowship programs |
For all infectious disease physicians |
○ Joint ID and addiction medicine case conferences and grand rounds |
○ Multidisciplinary care teams for infectious complications of SUD syndromes (eg, endocarditis teams) |
○ ID and addiction attendings with “office hours” in each other’s clinics |
○ Experience visiting harm reduction programs, including syringe exchange programs |
Actions at the ID society level |
○ ID/addiction interest groups and dedicated message boards |
○ Mentorship programs |
○ Inclusion of ID/addiction specialists on guidelines committees (eg, endocarditis) |
○ ID/addiction early career investigator society grant awards |
○ Addiction track at ID Week with dedicated presentations and meetings |
○ Support for publication of ID/addiction research in society-sponsored journals |
Actions to improve research |
○ Encourage investigators to apply for funding through NIDA and NIAID for ID/addiction projects |
○ Earmarked NIH funding for research of ID/addiction topics, including demonstration projects and implementation science |
○ Fast-track grant evaluations for ID/addiction topics with reviews every 3 months, rather than 6 months. |
Abbreviations: DATA, Drug Abuse Treatment Act of 2000; FIT, Fellows Immersion Training in Addiction Medicine Program; ID, infectious disease; NIAID, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease; NIDA, National Institute on Drug Abuse; NIH, National Institutes of Health; SUD, substance use disorders.