Program Curriculum

Addiction Medicine Fellowship Clinical Rotations
2025-2026 Academic Year

Clinical Rotations

Each UNC Addiction Medicine fellow’s work schedule is broken up into morning clinical sessions and afternoon clinical sessions.

Addiction Consult Service Rotation: Fellows spend a total of 6 months (in the mornings) on the inpatient addiction consult service. The addiction consult service performs in-person consults on patients admitted to the UNC Medical Center. Primary teams request consults for management of opioid use disorder (including withdrawal management and opioid agonist treatment with methadone and buprenorphine) as well as assistance with alcohol withdrawal and medication management of alcohol use disorder. The addiction consult team also receives consults related to stimulant and benzodiazepine use. Fellows are supervised by Addiction Medicine faculty with backgrounds in psychiatry, anesthesiology/pain medicine, internal medicine, and pediatrics.

Pain Consult Service Rotation: Fellows spend 1 month (in the mornings) on the inpatient pain consult service, which is run by the UNC Department of Anesthesiology. Fellows work with anesthesiology attendings and residents as well as pain medicine fellows in performing in-person consults for patients hospitalized at UNC Medical Center who are in need of pain management services. A significant proportion of the patients who are evaluated on this consult service have co-occurring substance use disorders.

UNC Horizons Rotation: Fellows spend 1 month (in the mornings) working with the UNC Horizons residential treatment program, which is operated by the UNC Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. This nationally recognized program treats pregnant and parenting women with co-occurring substance use disorders. Fellows participate in medication management of patients’ substance use disorders as well as the group therapy that is offered to the patients enrolled in this residential program.

Tobacco Consult Service Rotation: Fellows spend 1 afternoon per week for 6 months working with the UNC Tobacco Treatment Program, providing both inpatient and outpatient consults for patients who are potentially interested in smoking cessation. These consults are in-person and also virtual. The UNC Department of Family Medicine oversees this service.

SouthLight Opioid Treatment Program (OTP) Clinic Rotation: Fellows spend 2 months (in the mornings) rotating at SouthLight, the largest OTP in Raleigh. Fellows work with the SouthLight provider staff offering outpatient methadone maintenance therapy as well as buprenorphine treatment on-site.

Hepatology Rotation: Fellows spend 1 month (in the mornings) on the inpatient hepatology consult service, which is run by the UNC Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Fellows work with GI attendings and fellows in performing inpatient consults at UNC Medical Center. A substantial proportion of the patients seen by the hepatology consult service have co-occurring substance use disorders. In addition, fellows spend time in the UNC IHEAL (Integrated Healthcare for Alcohol Use and Liver Disease) Clinic. The IHEAL Clinic serves patients with alcohol-related liver disease, and fellows work alongside UNC addiction therapists in assessing and treating the patients served in this clinic.

UNC Substance Treatment and Recovery (STAR) Clinic Rotation: During the course of their 12-month fellowship, fellows spend 2-3 afternoons per week in this clinic (2 afternoons for 6 months and 3 afternoons for 6 months). Fellows offer both virtual and in-person substance use treatment services in this clinic, which serves patients throughout the entire state of North Carolina.

Elective Rotation: Fellows spend 1 month (in the mornings) on an elective rotation. The UNC Addiction Medicine faculty can assist fellows in devising their elective.

Addiction Medicine Fellowship Educational Seminars

Professional Development Seminar (1 hour/week)

Principles of Addiction Medicine Seminar (1 hour/week)

Practical Applications of Addiction Medicine Seminar (1 hour/week)

Special Topics in Addiction Medicine Seminar (1 hour/week)

American College of Academic Addiction Medicine (ACAAM) Didactic Curriculum (2 hours/week)

** Fellows have protected time for all of these seminars **