by Lisa Frederiksen
Great news! An American Board of Addiction Medicine (ABAM) certification will now be an option for physicians specializing in Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Pediatrics, Emergency Medicine, Surgery, Preventative Medicine, Psychiatry, Neurology and others. Quoting from Bob Curley’s article, “First Addiction Medicine Specialists Named,” appearing on Join Together’s website:
“‘Physicians are often at a loss for what to do about substance use and addiction issues, and may even misdiagnose the problem,’” said ABAM President Kevin B. Kunz, M.D. …
“The timing is right for standardizing and improving professional education in the field of addiction medicine, according to Kunz and others who pointed to a recent paradigm shift around addiction that has taken place in the medical community. ‘Over time, people have begun to recognize that this should look more like other medical specialties,” said addiction researcher Richard Saitz, M.D, of the Boston University School of Medicine. ‘Years ago, addiction was not viewed as a health problem. In the past 10-12 years, enough people in the health community have recognized addiction as a health problem that attitudes have changed sharply.’
“‘Years of scientific research have proven drug addiction is a brain disease caused by biological, environmental and developmental factors — a disease which can have far-reaching medical consequences,’ added Nora D. Volkow, M.D., director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. ‘Given the proper training, tools, and resources, physicians can be the first line of defense against substance abuse and addiction — identifying drug use early, preventing its escalation to abuse and addiction, and referring patients in need to treatment.’
“‘This will bring addiction as a disease the recognition that the rest of the country already has,’ said Kunz. ‘Essentially, medicine is catching up with the rest of society.‘”
