Program Curriculum
The CURATE Program spans from mid or late May through late July for a total of 10 weeks, with a cohort of 3-5 undergraduate students every year. Participation can be in-person/on campus or remote.
Our program has a 3-prong learning experience of addiction research, clinical, and educational exposure:
RESEARCH COMPONENT
The student will be the Research Associate for a research project. During the first two weeks of the internship, an orientation to various research methods will be conducted by the program and will include the NIH Certification on Human Subjects Protection. The remaining weeks will involve workshops on additional research skill building, as well as opportunities for networking and career development.
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
- Inpatient addiction consult service
EDUCATION COMPONENT
Students will participate in 7-8 didactic/case presentations about addiction medicine over the internship. Potential topics include:
- Addiction and its treatment
- Substance use screening and brief interventions
- Social determinants of addiction
- Substance use policy research
- Chronic pain and substance use disorders
- Smoking cessation and health disparities