How does addiction fit into your medical practice?

"I work in the UIHC MAT Clinic. During my career, I have spent 10 years working as a family physician and 10 years working in a community mental health setting. In both of these settings I saw many people who were dealing with substance use issues, including smoking, alcohol, methamphetamine, opioids, and marijuana. For many of them, substance use played a significant role in their mental and physical health." -Alison Lynch, MD

"My primary clinic and educational focus is caring holistically for people who use drugs and/or have substance use disorders. In addition to my Addiction Medicine Clinic at Iowa River Landing two days per week, I staff the inpatient Medicine-Psychiatry Unit and the Crisis Stabilization Unit at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics." -Andrea Weber, MD, MME

"I spend one afternoon per week in the MAT clinic. As a Toxicologist I also manage those with addiction, often after acute overdoses, but also when they have withdrawal from the substances to which they are addicted." -Josh Radke, MD

"Most veterans have a current or past addiction; I research gambling disorder." -Donald Black, MD

"While the majority of patients in the pain clinic can safely use opioids and adhere to physician directions, a significant minority shows signs of problematic use. Despite the efforts based on the guidelines for opioid prescription for chronic non cancer pain, a small minority of patients develop use indicative not merely of physiological dependence that develops with chronic opioid treatment, but a loss of control over drug taking. This brings in a collaborative approach with Addiction Medicine. Besides the pain clinic offers a multidisciplinary pain treatment approaches that not only decreases but eliminates the use of opioids." -Anureet Walia, MBBS

"I care for people with infectious diseases, such as HIV, hepatitis C, endocarditis, and many other conditions. Substance use can increase risk for these infections, and these infections can in turn make it harder for individuals to recover from unhealthy substance use. My goal is to provide holistic and integrated care that addresses both treatment for infections and care for addiction." -Michael Ohl, MD

What do you think are the most important or interesting aspects of addiction medicine?

"MAT, harm reduction, health care delivery, advocacy and health policy." -Alison Lynch

"Given my combined training in internal medicine and psychiatry, working within addiction medicine allows me to utilize all my training to care for the medical and psychiatric conditions of my patients, many of which can be both cause and consequence of a substance use disorder." -Andrea Weber

"Behavioral addictions." -Donald Black

"The most interesting aspect of addiction medicine is getting to know people I care for and hearing their stories. Every person’s story is different - including how substance use affects their life and health - and I enjoy talking to people and trying to understand their personal path to recovery. There is always something to learn." -Michael Ohl

"Medication Assisted Treatment." -Anureet Walia

What do you love about your job?

"The patients and the residents/fellows I get to work with. Being able to help someone transform their life by getting control of an addiction is a powerful and moving experience. Over the past few years, it has been wonderful to see a huge increase in interest in expanding our addiction services in our department and at our institution." -Alison Lynch

"I absolutely LOVE getting to know my patients as people and being witness to all the great strengths and changes they make during the course of their recovery journey. Advocating and caring for a marginalized patient population fuels me to educate myself, my colleagues, and our policymakers on how to better care for people who use drugs and/or have substance use disorders." -Andrea Weber

"The variety." -Donald Black

"I enjoy the opportunity to connect with people, learn from them, and hopefully be useful." -Michael Ohl

"I identify myself as a collaborative leader. I thoroughly enjoy the multidisciplinary aspect of my job which allows me to use my unique training background to do the best for my patients, trainees and colleagues." -Anureet Walia