Substance Use Disorders

Medical Students and Graduate Students

The Division on Substance Use Disorders collaborates with the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (P&S) and the Columbia University School of Dental Medicine in the training of medical and dental students. Division faculty and post-doctoral fellows teach a pre-clinical students as part of the  Psychiatric Medicine, Foundation of Clinical Medicine, and The Body: In Health and Disease courses. These include lecture and small-group style classes on the neurobiology, prevalence, diagnosis, and treatment of substance use disorders (SUDs) as well as the discussing how SUDs are relevant to other fields of medicine. The Division also coordinates training programs focused on Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT), using case-based methods and standardized patients exercises to help students develop clinical skills related to assessing and intervening on problematic substance use. Division faculty also teach medical students during their psychiatry clinical clerkship. These classes build on topics addressed during the pre-clinical years and also focus on the treatment of co-occurring mental illness and SUDs. For medical students interested in research, there are opportunities available for funded research under the supervision of Division faculty.

Medical Students Courses

  • Motivational Interviewing
  • Medical Neuro Course
  • Medical AA Student Small Groups
  • Dental Neuro Course

Graduate Education

While the Division on Substance Use Disorders is not a degree-granting department, we work closely with faculty members from other degree-granting programs within the Columbia University community. In the past, we have collaborated with faculty members from the Departments of Neuroscience, Biostatistics, Public Health and Epidemiology in jointly sponsoring dissertation work and independent research projects for trainees. Masters and doctoral students interested in substance use disorders research and potential collaborative opportunities should contact the relevant faculty members directly.