A presentation titled "Psychiatric Aspects of Substance Abuse Disorders in Medical Practice" by Rajiv Radhakrishnan, MBBS, MD and Samuel T. Wilkinson, MD shared a second place finish at the Third Annual American Society of Addiction (ASAM) Educational. Radhakrishnan and Wilkinson are both residents in the Yale Department of Psychiatry.
The Educational is a presentation competition co-sponsored by the Connecticut Chapter of American Society of Addiction Medicine (CTSAM) and the Connecticut State Medical Society (CSMS). This year's competition asked participants to study and answer the question, “How does addiction impact your patients in your clinical setting?” The Educational is open to residents and fellows in the Connecticut region, including Massachusetts.
The Educational was started in 2012. Each submission, a slideshow of 10 slides, must refer to the ASAM Definition of Addiction. The goal of the competition is to raise awareness of addiction medicine as well as ASAM and its mission.
The Yale pair's presentation portrayed the complexity of substance-use disorders and the relevance of such disorders to primary care physicians, such as high rates of psychiatric comorbidity with substance abuse, newer drugs on the market, the fact that opioid prescription medications may serve as gateway drugs, and the role that media plays in substance abuse.
Radhakrishnan and Wilkinson received a cash prize and memberships to ASAM for 2014.