Welcome from the Program Director

Although addiction is a longstanding problem, the field of addiction medicine as a recognized subspecialty of medicine is relatively new.  In fact, ACGME-accredited addiction medicine fellowships are only a few years old and HRSA support for these fellowships, awarded on a competitive basis, is relatively recent.  What does this mean?  It means that addiction medicine is a new entrant to the “house of medicine” and there is lots of opportunity for physicians to have an impact in this emerging scientific field.

The addiction medicine fellowship is the key educational component of the Center of Excellence in Addiction Medicine formed by a collaboration of Baptist Memorial Health Care and Arcare (a Federally Qualified Health Center).  It is the only addiction medicine fellowship in West Tennessee, and provides opportunities for training in every venue in the field:  inpatient, outpatient, mental health, methadone, residential treatment, pain management, and other areas. 

One of the most rewarding aspects of addiction medicine is the impact we, as medical providers, can have on patients’ lives.  Most of our patients are 20-50 years old, and treating their addiction allows them many future productive decades.  Patients often say, “Doc, you have given me my life back.”  Come and be a part of the action!

Sincerely,

Shawn Hamm, MD, MBA