Samet Installed as President of ABAM and ABAM Foundation

Jeffrey H. Samet, MD, MA, MPH, a professor of medicine and community health sciences at BUSM and BUSPH, has been installed as the president of the American Board of Addiction Medicine (ABAM) and The ABAM Foundation. Samet will serve in this volunteer position for two years. In this role he will lead ABAM in the formal certification of physicians as experts in addiction medicine, establish and accredit physician post-graduate addiction medicine training programs, and thus advance the quality of medical care for substance use disorders related to alcohol, tobacco and other addicting drugs, including some prescription medications.

ABAM is an independent medical specialty board established in 2007 to certify addiction medicine physicians from several specialties, including emergency medicine, family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, preventive medicine, psychiatry and others. Prior to ABAM’s formation, only one medical specialty (psychiatry) offered sub-specialized training and certification in addiction.

“Addiction medicine is a unique field, encompassing elements of a range of medical specialties that come into contact with patients with addictive disorders,” explained Samet. “We want addiction prevention, screening, intervention and treatment to become routine aspects of medical care wherever health care is provided. ABAM-certified physicians will also be able to address common medical or psychiatric conditions related to the use of addictive substances.”