Translational Medicine in Substance Use Disorder

Catalog description

This course provides students with insight into the dynamic and ongoing relationship between laboratory research and clinical practice as it relates to substance use disorder. Students will shadow a clinician in order to observe the current clinical treatment strategies for substance use disorder as well as learn about how this chronic disease affects the afflicted patients. In parallel, weekly lectures and classroom discussions will provide students with the most up-to-date understanding of the physiological mechanisms mediating substance use disorder based on preclinical and clinical data. To provide students with a government and health insurance perspective on substance use disorder, this course will discuss policies put in place to control illicit drug use as well as discuss the approach insurance companies take when covering patients getting treatment. The goal of this course is to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of drug addiction at the clinical, preclinical, and government levels with the purpose of training students to observe clinical needs and address them through experimental design.