Advancing Clinical Research Training within Addiction Residency Programs

Enter the text here that is the new abstract information for your application. This section must be no longer than 30 lines of text. Fostering the next generation of multidisciplinary, clinician investigators in the field of addiction is critical for preventing and addressing the ongoing impact of substance use disorders in the United States. Addiction Medicine and Addiction Psychiatry physicians with clinical addiction expertise are a critical part of those investigators needed to pursue important clinically-focused addiction research questions. In this renewal application and building on our successes over the past 11 years, while responding to evolving needs in the field, the Research in Addiction Medicine Scholars (RAMS) Program seeks to advance its mission to strengthen the next generation of addiction physician researchers and leaders. Drawing from the North American-based pool of fellows training in Addiction Medicine (n=96 programs) and Addiction Psychiatry (n=54 programs) and by supporting local mentorship, the RAMS Program will foster development of addiction-trained clinician investigators and leaders. The RAMS leadership team in conjunction with the RAMS National Advisory Committee (NAC), will provide the following: a combination of monthly webinars; leadership development training; harm reduction training; and two annual intensive, in-person retreats (Fall retreat and Spring retreat [embedded in the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) national annual meeting]). Together, the RAMS team and infrastructure will achieve the following Specific Aims: 1) Provide clinical research training over 2 years to 5 RAM Scholars (Addiction Medicine and Addiction Psychiatry fellows), recruited annually, through retreats, webinars, and research-in-progress sessions. 2) Augment mentoring and networking of the RAM Scholars regarding research projects and career trajectory, by establishing rigorous mentorship relationships between Scholars and nationally recognized researchers (RAMS NAC) and through interactions between Scholars, RAMS alum, and RAMS core faculty. 3) Provide leadership training for the RAM Scholars, by introducing physicians to the concepts and skills necessary for leading organizations. The RAMS Program will continue to be of high impact by accelerating the progress of its important goal of developing the next generation of addiction physician researchers to advance the knowledge base to provide better care for individuals with, and at risk for, substance use disorders.