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35th AM (2025) - Poster Session
Redefining Medical Training Through Recovery-Cente ...
Redefining Medical Training Through Recovery-Centered Addiction Education
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This document addresses the critical gaps and stigma surrounding education on substance use disorders (SUDs) within U.S. medical schools. Despite the widespread prevalence of SUDs in healthcare, addiction remains highly stigmatized, and current medical curricula largely fail to provide integrated, experiential, and patient-centered training. Most programs focus narrowly on neurobiological and diagnostic aspects, neglecting key components such as harm reduction, recovery processes, therapeutic alliance, and social determinants that are essential for effective patient care. Recent literature reviews confirm these deficits, highlighting a lack of hands-on learning and harm reduction education, which leaves medical students ill-prepared for real-world addiction care and perpetuates stigma.<br /><br />To address these shortcomings, the Summer Institute for Medical Students (SIMS), led by the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, offers an immersive week-long program where medical students engage directly with individuals in recovery across multiple U.S. treatment centers. Through activities such as 12-step meetings, group therapy, reflective writing, and lectures, SIMS fosters empathy, clinical insight, and recovery-oriented attitudes.<br /><br />A quantitative evaluation involving 490 medical students across five sites employed the Brief Substance Abuse Attitude Survey (BSAAS) to measure attitudinal changes before and after the program. Results demonstrated significant improvements in empathy, knowledge, confidence, treatment optimism, and reductions in moralistic attitudes toward patients with SUDs. Participants reported enhanced readiness to provide patient-centered, multidisciplinary care that balances biomedical and psychosocial elements.<br /><br />The findings support integrating immersive recovery experiences into medical education to close the knowledge-practice gap, reduce stigma, and improve addiction treatment outcomes. Recommendations include embedding recovery immersion in curricula, emphasizing empathy and patient narratives, teaching harm reduction and multidisciplinary approaches, and advocating for national reforms to standardize SUD education. The SIMS model offers a scalable, high-impact approach essential for preparing physicians to meet the challenges of real-world addiction care.
Keywords
substance use disorders
medical education
stigma
addiction treatment
harm reduction
recovery immersion
medical students
patient-centered care
multidisciplinary approach
attitudinal change
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