Addiction medicine is the comprehensive care of people with a wide range of substance use problems, from harmful alcohol or other substance use through to heroin and methamphetamine addiction. Increasingly, addiction medicine is recognised as an important component of multidisciplinary care for patients with pain conditions and problematic use of psychoactive pharmaceuticals. Addiction medicine physicians also play an important role in shaping public policy in the areas of health protection, prevention and health promotion for improved public and population health outcomes.
Addiction medicine is a career that provides opportunities for:
Addiction medicine is increasingly recognised as an important component of multidisciplinary care within WA hospitals, with addiction specialists now employed within WA health hospitals.
Communication and problem-solving skills are key elements in addressing the challenges presented in substance use issues and dependency. Many addiction medicine registrars will have developed these skills in previous positions, and the training program offers opportunities for fine-tuning these essential qualities.
One of the positives of this specialty is that it covers a lot of different areas of interest, such as social work, psychiatry, medicine, politics and public health.
Another positive is the great work-life balance, with most Next Step doctors working “9 to 5” and no standard weekend work. Although there is an ‘on call’ roster, it is not particularly taxing, as it is shared by many doctors.
Addiction medicine training is a chapter program of the Royal Australian College of Physicians (RACP) training program. You can enter the training after completing RACP Basic Training, or after a Fellowship from another medical college. Please refer to the RACP website for further information about the training program.
A pathway that works well for addiction medicine is one with broad experience and some good general resident posts such as medicine, psychiatry and emergency. The fact that the work can be flexible means that you can do rotations in many areas, as lots of different area are impacted by substance use disorder. Many trainees have completed their general practice training, which is a great way to form that ‘general’ foundation.
The training program is relatively easy to get in to, with Next Step providing a very supportive environment and great access to consultants and other senior staff. The training includes access to varying subspecialties such as toxicology, public health, pain clinics and obstetrics. An advanced trainee position in addiction medicine has been approved by RACP for Fiona Stanley Hospital.
