William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital
The Madison VA Medical Center (William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital) and its academic affiliate, the University of Wisconsin, seek to train medical and associated health professionals in scholarly work and leadership in addictions treatment, with particular focus on health services research, clinical research, and quality improvement.
Program Description
Fellows will gain exposure to a broad range of clinical settings where scholarly activity takes place. Trainees will integrate into the local system and into care teams. This will also foster collaborative contact with potential mentors, allowing fellows to identify a mentor with compatible research interests. The Addictive Disorders Treatment Program (ADTP) is the multi-disciplinary substance abuse treatment program at the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin. ADTP provides a full-continuum of addiction services and settings. Madison VA also has a highly developed Integrated Care Team that assists with addictions medical management in primary care settings.
Research and Clinical Opportunities in Addiction
- Alpha-agonist therapy to reduce the likelihood of stress-related relapse in the setting of alcohol use disorder
- Screening in trauma for opioid misuse prevention
- Pharmacotherapeutic and behavioral treatment innovations for PTSD
- Adjunctive pharmacotherapies for opioid use disorder
- Educational innovations to enhance physician knowledge of the prevention and treatment of substance use disorders and related complications
- Chronic care smoking treatment for Veterans initially unwilling to quit
- Smoking cessation treatment for Veterans with PTSD
- Treatment engagement outcomes with implementation of Contingency Management
FOCAL AREAS
- Addiction health services research
- Technological applications in treatment
- Pharmacotherapy
- Behavioral health integration into general medical settings
- Treatment engagement and retention
- Quality improvement
- Development of effective tobacco dependence treatments
APPLICATION PROCESS
- Please contact Dr. Brown with questions about the physician position, Ashley Snyder with questions about the social work position, and Dr. Cook with questions about the psychology position.
- Please submit a letter of interest (maximum two pages), CV, and three letters of recommendation. The letter of interest should include: a brief summary of educational, and clinical and research experiences relevant to addictions and a statement of career goals.
- Application materials should be submitted to the appropriate Program Co-Director.
PHYSICIAN FELLOWS:
- Must have an MD or DO from a U.S. accredited medical school, be board certified in a primary medical specialty, and have an unrestricted medical license and DEA.
PSYCHOLOGY FELLOWS:
- Should be U.S. citizens and have a doctoral degree (PhD, PsyD) from an APA-accredited program.
SOCIAL WORK FELLOWS:
- Should be U.S. citizens, have a Master's in Social Work from an accredited U.S. university program, and have completed a clinical internship in a psychiatric or substance abuse treatment setting.
Randall Brown, MD
Dr. Brown is Board Certified in Family Medicine and Addiction Medicine. He has been involved in trainee education and research in substance use disorders for the last 19 years. He founded and serves as the Director of the UW-VA Addiction Medicine Fellowship Program in Madison, WI. This training program was selected as a National Model Program by the American Board of Addiction Medicine. As a part of this award, Dr. Brown participated in national meetings of Program Directors and leadership of the American Board of Addiction Medicine to establish national standards for addiction medicine training. He lectures UW undergraduates; graduate students in nursing, medicine, social work, and pharmacy; family medicine residents; internal medicine residents; and attending level physicians of many specialties on substance use issues. He is an NIH-funded researcher with 40+ peer-reviewed publications to his credit, and is the Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on 18 ongoing clinical trials and addiction health services research efforts.
Jessica Cook, PhD
Jessica Cook, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (UW-SMPH) and an investigator at the University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (UWCTRI). Dr. Cook is also a Clinician Investigator at the William S. Middleton Memorial VA, where she directs the Veterans Tobacco Research Group and co-directs the VA Interprofessional Advanced Fellowship in Addictions Treatment. Dr. Cook’s program of research focuses on developing more effective tobacco dependence treatments. This research involves developing interventions for smokers initially unwilling to quit as well as for smokers at increased risk for relapse (e.g., smokers with psychiatric comorbidity), and identifying mechanisms of behavioral change in tobacco treatment. Dr. Cook’s work is supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Ashley Snyder, LCSW, CSAC
Mrs. Snyder is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, a Clinical Substance Abuse Counselor, and an Independent Clinical Supervisor. She has worked for the VA for 7 years as a Substance Use Disorder Counselor, providing dual diagnosis treatment to Veterans while focusing on utilizing a continuum of care approach. Mrs. Snyder focuses majority of her clinical work targeting programing to meet the needs of many individuals who have substance use disorders and personality traits that interfere with the traditional treatment process. She is trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, mindfulness based interventions, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and Moral Reconation Therapy. Prior to working at the VA, Ms. Snyder was a treatment provider and case manager for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections and primarily worked with the high risk/high need population as they re-enter into a community setting from an institution. Mrs. Snyder currently works at the Addictive Disorders Treatment Program (ADTP) located in Madison, WI. While at ADTP, Mrs. Snyder has facilitated and trained numerous students and staff members on ASAM Levels of Care, Evidenced Based Practice Interventions for Substance Use Disorders, SBIRT Interventions and National Drug Court Treatment Standards.
ABOUT MADISON
Madison is the capital of the State of Wisconsin with an estimated population of 243,344. Madison has consistently ranked near the top of Money Magazine's best-places list since its initial listing in 1996.