UCSF Primary Care Addiction Medicine Fellowship

Our Addiction Medicine Fellowship prepares primary care physicians to become leaders in the care of persons affected by unhealthy substance use in the safety net communities of the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond.

Created September 2020

Through a combination of direct patient care, clinical teaching, experiential learning, and scientific inquiry embedded in public sector health care delivery systems, this intensive one-year training program combines the resources of the UCSF School of Medicine and the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) to offer fellows outstanding opportunities to obtain and demonstrate competence in patient care and in the diagnosis, management, and treatment of conditions along the spectrum of unhealthy substance use and addiction.

Fellows, all of whom have completed a residency in their primary specialty, receive training in the knowledge and skills essential for the scope of practice of Addiction Medicine and to develop an identity as an addiction medicine physician. Core rotations include clinical learning experiences in community-based outpatient specialty clinics, street-based venues, residential treatment programs, and public hospital-based addiction medicine consultation.  Our curriculum emphasizes patient-centered communication, evidence-based addiction medicine, interprofessional collaboration, and exceptional stigma-free care for patients from medically, economically, and educationally disadvantaged communities. Fellows design electives with program faculty to enhance their skills and experiences and to develop new areas of curiosity and expertise.  All trainees complete an addiction-focused mentored scholarly project that makes use of scientific methods, often by undertaking medical education or clinical quality improvements projects.

Program Leadership