(PRESS RELEASE)

The American College of Medical Toxicology has been awarded $500,000 from the Substance  Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to develop high quality,  comprehensive curriculum on identification and treatment of SUDs. 

October 3, 2019 — The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration  (SAMHSA), a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services agency, recently announced that  ACMT has been awarded a $500,000 2-year grant titled “Frontline: Training Emergency  Medicine Residents and Medical Toxicology Fellows to Effectively Screen, Assess, and Treat  Patients with Substance Use Disorder”. 

To expand the number of practitioners able to deliver high-quality, evidence-based substance  use disorder (SUD) treatment, SUD education must be integrated into the standard curriculum  of relevant healthcare and health services education programs. 

The purpose of this grant program is to develop high-quality, comprehensive curriculum to  identify and treat patients with SUD. Curriculum will include screening, assessment and treatment principles and their application, particularly regarding alcohol, marijuana, stimulants,  and opioids.  

With the SAMHSA funding, ACMT will pilot this curriculum in the first year at the following  eleven emergency medicine residency programs, each with an ACMT site lead: Emory  University School of Medicine, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Spectrum  Health/Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Rutgers New Jersey Medical  School, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical  School and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. In year two, ACMT will add  ten additional emergency medicine residencies to this program. 

Dr. Paul M. Wax, ACMT Executive Director and Principal Investigator for this program adds, “We are extremely proud to have received this funding to expand substance use disorder curriculum at emergency medicine residencies nationwide. Recognition from SAMHSA is an  important step to greater recognition and visibility of medical toxicology”. 

The American College of Medical Toxicology (ACMT) is a professional, nonprofit association of  physicians with recognized expertise and board certification in medical toxicology. Our members  specialize in the prevention, evaluation, treatment, and monitoring of injury and illness from  exposures to drugs and chemicals, as well as biological and radiological agents. ACMT  members work in clinical, academic, governmental, and public health settings, and provide  poison control center leadership.