New Programs Train Doctors in Addiction Medicine

Doctors can now get special training in addiction medicine. Ten medical institutions in the United States are offering a new one-year program. The programs had to meet special requirements of the American Board of Addiction Medicine (ABAM). The goal of the program is to train doctors to recognize, diagnose and help treat people who are addicted to alcohol, drugs, pain medicines and other substances. The ABAM also wants to see addiction medicine become a medical specialty, such as pediatrics, internal medicine or dermatology. Many experts think these new training programs mean that addiction is being recognized as a physical disease because of how it affects the brain. It needs to be managed like any other chronic disease. The New York Times wrote about the story July 10.