Medical Student Drug Abuse Research Program
Recruitment and training of select motivated first year students to participate in 8 to 10 week mentored research projects.
Director: Alex Walley, MD, MSc – Section of General internal Medicine
For more information, please contact Courtney Pierce. This program runs in conjection with the BU School of Medicine Summer Research Progam.
Goals/ Objectives:
1) The student will gain experience in research design, subject interviewing, data collection, data entry, data analysis, and data presentation through a research project.
2) The student will acquire clinical exposure in harm reduction, screening, diagnosing and treating patients with drug and alcohol problems through multiple observer experiences including a methadone maintenance clinic, office-based opioid treatment with buprenorphine program and needle exchange program.
Dates: late June through late August (8-10 weeks)
Stipend: $3000
Summary: The addiction medicine summer program includes a research, clinical, and education component.
1) Research component: The student will be the Research Associate for a research project.
The first week of the internship an orientation to research methods will be conducted by the Internship Director and will include the NIH Certification on Human Subjects Protection.
2) Clinical Component: The student will have weekly opportunities to shadow physicians and other expert care providers in various addiction treatment/services settings including:
• Methadone maintenance clinic
• Primary care-based opioid treatment program with buprenorphine
• HIV clinic-based substance abuse treatment program
• Needle exchange program
• Hospital wide screening and brief intervention counseling program
3) Education Component: Students will participate in four 75 minute didactic/case presentations about addiction medicine over the internship. Potential topics:
• office based opioid treatment with buprenorphine
• methadone maintenance 101
• substance abuse, HIV, and HCV
• substance abuse and intimate partner violence
• chronic pain and substance abuse
• chronic disease management of substance user
• Substance abuse and comorbid mental illness
