Post-Doctoral Fellowships

Training Program Overview

There are three fellowship programs for individuals interested in addictions treatment or research.  These include a one-year clinical fellowship that leads to eligibility for board certification in Addiction Psychiatry.  A second fellowship is a two-year research and clinical training program that is offered through the Mental Illness, Research, Education and Clinical Center at the Philadelphia VAMC. Third is a NIDA institutional research training grant (T32) that supports two years of training for pre-doctoral and post-doctoral candidates.  NIDA fellows can select a basic science emphasis and work with faculty in behavioral pharmacology, genetics, molecular biology or neuroscience or a clinical focus that includes training in research methodology, diagnosis and treatment, neuroimaging, genetics, and pharmacogenetics.  The CSA recruits jointly for these three programs.

Purpose/Areas of Focus

The Center for Studies of Addiction (CSA) in the Department of Psychiatry offers post-graduate basic science and clinical research training programs focusing on a wide range of substance abuse, including nicotine, alcohol, cocaine, and heroin use disorders. The pre-clinical program emphasizes animal models of addiction, epigenetic transmission of addiction risk, and preclinical testing of potential therapeutic drugs.  The clinical programs emphasize multimodal treatment, dual diagnosis, medications development through randomized clinical trials, and genetic and other moderators of treatment effects. Funding is provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) for one research fellowship and by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for two programs, one predominantly clinical and the other predominantly research.

Participants

Holders of MD or PhD degrees or other relevant doctoral degrees, and pre-doctoral trainees who are advanced graduate students in the Biomedical Graduate Studies program at the University of Pennsylvania are eligible to apply.  The positions are open to citizens, non-citizen nationals, or permanent residents of the United States. The clinical training program at the Philadelphia VAMC is certified by the American Board of Medical Specialties. Thus, psychiatrists can qualify for board certification in Addiction Psychiatry.

Requirements for Addiction Psychiatry

For acceptance into the Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Program at the University of Pennsylvania, applicants must have completed a General Psychiatry Residency, and are required to obtain a PA Medical Training License as part of their onboarding with our GME Office.  This particular Fellowship is funded through a disbursement agreement between the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Penn. Only psychiatrists who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. are eligible.

Number of Positions

Currently there are 2 Addiction Psychiatry slots, 4 VA research training slots, with a variable ratio of MD and PhD fellows, and 8 NIDA slots for both pre-doctoral and post-doctoral trainees.


Back to Top