Dr. Weaver goes to Washington
Helping to set the national agenda on addiction medicine, Michael Weaver, MD, DFASAM, professor of psychiatry, recently returned home from the White Houses’ Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). Weaver was invited by the American College of Academic Addiction Medicine to attend the a meeting on “Building the Addiction Medicine Workforce: Giving Americans Access to the Care They Need” last month in Washington, D.C.
“I was honored to be invited to attend this meeting,” Weaver said. “I am glad that I was able to represent the board that is certifying physicians in the newest medical specialty of addiction medicine. I learned about ways in which health care systems in the United States. are incorporating evidence-based addiction treatment into their overall programs.”
The meeting convened medical school leadership, medical boards, and health systems leaders to create support for addiction medicine fellowships and establish addiction care in health systems.
Weaver noted that there are already specific actions being taken to improve studies in addiction medicine, including forgiveness of loans for addiction medicine fellowship graduates who practice in underserved areas and accreditation of new fellowship programs by the ACGME.
As the sub-board chair for Addiction Medicine on the American Board of Preventative Medicine, Weaver is responsible for certifying physicians as specialists in the field of addiction medicine in the United States. Clinically, Weaver sees patients ages 16 years and older with any substance use disorder or concern about misuse of controlled substance prescription medications. Weaver received his medical degree from Northeast Ohio Medical University in 1993 before completing a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in addiction medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University Health System.
The ONDCP is a component of the Executive Office of the President and was created by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. The ONDCP coordinates the drug control activities and related funding of 16 federal departments and agencies.
Written by: Roman Petrowski, Office of Communications