The Scaife Medical Student Fellowship in Substance Use Disorders offers medical students an intensive learning experience about addiction and its treatment far beyond anything they may have encountered in their prior medical school education or clinical rotations. With the generous support of the Scaife Family Foundation, IRETA has provided this opportunity to medical students for over 20 years.
Applications
The 2025 application period will open on January 6, 2025.
The Scaife Fellowship is a three-week experience. For the 2025 fellowship, the first week will consist of remote virtual learning, and the second and third weeks will be held in Pittsburgh, PA for onsite experiential learning.
Session Dates for 2025 are as follows:
- Session 1: June 2, 2025 – June 20, 2025
- Session 2: July 7, 2025 – July 25, 2025
Program Philosophy
- Because patients with addiction have historically been neglected and mistreated by the healthcare system, healthcare professionals have an ethical obligation to proactively learn to engage with and care for these patients.
- When people of color, individuals experiencing homelessness, and other marginalized groups are affected by addiction, they have been disproportionately blamed, criminalized, and stigmatized. In response, health professionals should actively work to avoid placing blame, sanction, or stigma on members of marginalized groups with addiction.
- Regardless of whether a patient has a goal of abstinence or any type of recovery, people with addiction deserve accessible, quality healthcare.
- There are complex barriers to recovery on a societal level, and on an individual basis. Healthcare professionals should work to identify and remove these societal and individual barriers to recovery.
- Healthcare professionals with knowledge and skills related to substance use disorder need to act as advocates by working to change attitudes and behaviors of their professional and academic peers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Does the Program Consist of?
Students who are accepted into the program participate in an intensive learning experience. Their schedules include:
- Lectures
- A variety of site visits
- Patient contact
- Observation of group sessions with clients
- Training with standardized patients
- Conversations with residents and physicians practicing in addiction medicine
- Opportunities to present what they have learned
When is the Fellowship?
The Scaife Fellowship is a three-week experience. For the 2024 fellowship, the first week will consist of remote virtual learning, and the second and third weeks will be held in Pittsburgh, PA for onsite experiential learning.
- Session 1: June 2, 2025 – June 20, 2025
- Session 2: July 7, 2025 – July 25, 2025
We ask that applicants be aware that this is a full-time three-week commitment. We ask that Scaife fellows are not taking on other significant commitments such as work or classes for the period of the program. For the first week that the program is remote, we ask that students attend from somewhere that has a reliable internet connection.
Who is Eligible to Apply?
Medical students attending a medical school in the United States will be eligible to participate in this program.
How Many Students will be Accepted?
In order to optimize the clinical experience of the participants, only eight students will be accepted for each session.
What are the Benefits of Participating?
The Scaife Fellowship provides participants with increased knowledge and skills in the following areas:
- Screening for and diagnosing substance use disorders
- Brief motivational interviewing skills
- Adolescent substance use
- Substance use and pregnancy
- Special populations and addiction treatment
- Harm reduction strategies
- Residential/inpatient and outpatient treatment modalities
- Family issues in treatment
- Psychiatric co-morbidity
- Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT)
- Providing referrals to addiction treatment from medical settings
Is There Financial Compensation for Participating?
Participants will receive a stipend of $600 for living expenses and travel to Pittsburgh for the two weeks on-site. Lodging in a university dormitory and a flex dining plan to be used toward meals are also provided for all students participating in the fellowship.
Is This Program Only for Students Who Plan to Specialize in Addiction Medicine or Psychiatry?
Definitely not! Students interested in all specialties are encouraged to apply. All medical professionals will encounter patients with substance use disorders and therefore will benefit from the fellowship.
Questions?
If you have any questions, please contact Marla Kauffman at marla@ireta.org .
Want to Learn More?
IRETA has offered the Scaife Medical Student Fellowship for 20 years, and during that time, we have received a great deal of feedback from former students. Below are excerpts from our departing student focus groups:
I couldn’t believe how much I had learned. I came in with a pretty decent baseline of knowledge from what I did in med school, but I’m still so happy with what I got on top of that.
The diverse opportunities to interact with patients really helped open my eyes and enhanced my desire to learn.
I have a better understanding of the addiction treatment system.
Still Want to Learn More?
Take a look at our blog for posts from former students and a summary of our longitudinal evaluation of the program, which was published in the journal Substance Abuse.
A Firsthand Look at the Scaife Medical Student Fellowship in Substance Use Disorders (2023)
Lessons Learned from IRETA’s Scaife Advanced Medical Student Fellowship program (2012)
Utilizing SBIRT in a Student-Run Free Clinic (2013)
The Scarlet Letter A, This Time for Addiction (2014)
It Works! Annual Summer Program Changes Medical Students’ Views of Addiction (2017)
