Welcome to the UCSF Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Program! We are proud to offer a one-year, ACGME-accredited fellowship that provides state-of-the art addiction training, all in the San Francisco Bay area.
Why UCSF? | News | How to apply | Faculty and fellows | Sites and rotations | Didactics
Why UCSF?
The Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship emphasizes evidence-based treatments – including psychosocial therapies, behavioral therapies, and psychopharmacology – for a range of substance use disorders. Prominent features include:
- Sub-specialty clinics with UCSF faculty supervision (see “Sites and Rotations”)
- One of two national Substance Use and PTSD (SUPT) VA clinics
- Adolescent and family treatment experience
- Training in motivational interviewing with nationally recognized experts
- Psychotherapy training, including supervision with a trained psychoanalyst
- Rotation in a private residential addiction treatment center
- Consultation work at two major San Francisco hospitals
- Clinical research, including cutting-edge alcohol pharmacotherapy research
- Mentorship within national organizations, including the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP), American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) and California Society of Addiction Medicine (CSAM)
- Opportunities to teach UCSF medical students, residents, and fellows
- All sites located in the San Francisco area, near many local sites and amenities
Program news
- March 14, 2017: UCSF drug and substance abuse graduate programs once again ranked among nation's best
- March 16, 2016: UCSF ranked second nationally for drug and substance abuse research programs
Applying to the Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship
The applicant must have completed an ACGME-accredited general adult residency in psychiatry and have a valid, completely unrestricted California medical license by the starting date (July 1).
How to apply
The full application consists of:
- completed application form
- a personal letter of interest
- a current CV
- three recent professional references, including one from the general psychiatry training director
The California Medical Board requires a minimum of 12 months of training in an ACGME-accredited program and a passing score on the USMLE Step III to qualify for medical licensure.
Trainees must secure a DATA 2000 waiver/DEA-X license to allow for prescription of buprenorphine, and a Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES, i.e., California's electronic prescription monitoring program) login prior to the start date. Fellowship staff can assist accepted candidates with attaining these requirements. All finalists are invited for a day-long process of interviews and clinic visits.
Submission process and deadline
Positions for the 2018-19 academic year have been filled. Applications for the 2019-20 academic year will be accepted beginning June 1, 2018, and we will be recruiting up to three fellows. Please submit all materials directly to Education/Training Coordinator Anderson Lam at anderson.lam@va.gov.
Core faculty
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Michael Hoefer, MDDirector, Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Program |
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Tauheed Zaman, MDAssociate Director, Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Program |
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Steven L. Batki, MDSenior Consultant, Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Program |
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Ellen Herbst, MDAssociate Clinical Professor, UCSF Department of Psychiatry |
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John Straznickas, MDClinical Professor, UCSF Department of Psychiatry |
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Sally Vrana, MDAssistant Clinical Professor, UCSF Department of Psychiatry |
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David Pating, MDChief, Addiction Medicine, Chemical Dependency Recovery Program |
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Murtuza Ghadiali, MDAssistant Chief, Chemical Dependency Recovery Program |
Community supervisors
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Peter Banys, MD, MScClinical Professor, UCSF Department of Psychiatry |
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Jeffrey Devido, MDAssistant Clinical Professor, UCSF Department of Psychiatry |
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David Kan, MD, DFASAMAssistant Clinical Professor, UCSF Department of Psychiatry |
Current and former Addiction Psychiatry fellows
| Year | Fellow | Residency Site |
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| 2017‑2018 | Christopher Blazes, MD Katherine Pier, MD Bradley Zicherman, MD |
Albert Einstein Medical Center Mount Sinai School of Medicine Texas Tech Health Sciences Center (Child & Adolescent Fellowship: University of South Florida) |
| 2016‑2017 | Elie Aoun, MD | Brown University |
| 2015‑2016 | Smita Das, MD, PhD, MPH Pernilla Schweitzer, MD |
Stanford University UCSF |
| 2014‑2015 | Nicholas Reeves, MD Tauheed Zaman, MD |
UCLA Harvard Medical School/Cambridge Health Alliance |
| 2013‑2014 | Zachary Plaut, MD Joan Striebel, MD |
San Mateo County UCLA |
| 2012‑2013 | John Nguyen, MD | Cornell University |
Sites and rotations
The San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC) and Kaiser Chemical Dependency and Recovery Program (CDRP) are teaching sites for UCSF, and training is considered a core mission.
SFVAMC rotations
San Francisco VA Medical Center
- Drug and Alcohol Treatment (DAT): treating a range of non-opioid addictions
- Opiate Treatment Program (OTP): buprenorphine, methadone, Vivitrol treatment
- Substance Use and PTSD (SUPT): combat-related PTSD and addictions
- Prescription Opioid Safety Team (POST): consulting on pain/opioid misuse patients
- Addiction Consultation (AddCon): consulting on general addiction patients
- Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP): higher-level three days/week treatment program
- Tobacco Cessation Clinic: behavioral and pharmacologic approaches to cessation
- Several programs also include groups with opportunities for facilitation training, hospital consultations, and/or opportunities for consulting via video visits to remote patients.
Kaiser CDRP
Kaiser Chemical Dependency and Recovery Program
Kaiser CDRP provides a spectrum of services, which include medical stabilization and detoxification, day treatment, intensive outpatient treatment, multi-cultural and bilingual groups, and psychiatric treatment of co-morbid conditions. CDRP also provides comprehensive treatment for adolescents and families. As part of a larger medical system, CDRP provides integrated consultative services for patients with obstetrical (pregnancy), chronic pain, HIV or Hepatitis C conditions or those requiring emergency or hospital consultation.
Alta Mira
Alta Mira is a private treatment center for substance use and co-occurring disorders. Fellowship experiences here include the opportunity to work alongside the program director in performing patient assessments and treatment in a private residential treatment setting.
Alta Mira
Didactics
Addiction psychiatry fellows have a half day of protected time each Wednesday afternoon for didactics and supervision. These sessions are often led by local and national experts in the field of addiction. Didactics include:
- Addiction seminar: a weekly, 90-minute seminar covering a range of fundamental topics, aimed at a multidisciplinary audience of physicians, psychologists, social workers and trainees
- Education hour: a weekly, 60-minute interactive teaching session including case presentations, journal club, talks on advanced addiction topics
- Faculty teaching: several faculty members provide rotation-specific didactics relevant to their area of expertise throughout the year
- UCSF Grand Rounds & Drug Use Research Group: select addiction-focused sessions
Previous addiction seminar topics include:
- Psychedelics and Substance Use
- Cannabis: Biology to Policy
- The Relationship Between Disability Payments and Substance Use
- PTSD, Alcohol Use Disorder and TBI- Treatment Challenges and Strategies
- Clinical Drug Testing and the Medical Review Officer
- Addiction Group Therapy
- Three Views on Chronic Pain and Opioid Use Disorder
Previous education hour topics include:
- The Intersection of Addiction and Forensic Psychiatry (with forensic and addiction psychiatrist Dr. David Kan)
- Management of Complex Benzodiazepine Tapers
- Motivational Interviewing for the Rushed Physician
- A Research Career in Addiction Psychiatry (with research psychologist Dr. Pennington)
- Journal clubs and complex addiction case presentations
