Addiction medicine

So today we're excited to welcome Kirith Hartman.

She's a PA at Oregon Health and Science University who practices addiction medicine, splitting her time between inpatient consults and outpatient care.

She also is the associate director of Addiction and Complex Pain Clinic.

And I know that she was a board member of the Society for Addiction Medicine of PAs.

And I want to do a shout out for their website, which is addictionpas.org. Great website.

If you haven't followed them on Instagram, follow them.

I think for myself, and I think this is the case for a lot of us that work in medicine, I like to keep things interesting.

I like to be doing a few different things within my practice.

He's an expert in psychopharmacology of addiction and other mental health disorders.

He is a board-certified general of psychiatry and addiction medicine and holds an appointment as assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA.

Now, other than Dr.

Mark Grimock, Thank you so much for having me on your show, Daniel.

[on-hold music] This is the Week in Addiction Medicine, a podcast resource of timely news and top stories brought to you by the American Society of Addiction Medicine, ASAM.

[on-hold music] Today is Tuesday, September fifteenth, and I'm Zack Caruso.

Our lead story this week is an Addictive Behaviors report and is titled "U.S. Drug Overdose Deaths Involving Stimulants Without Opioids Continue to Rise in Twenty Twenty-Four." Drug overdose deaths, or DOD, peaked in twenty twenty-two before a decline in rates driven by a decrease in opioid-related deaths.

In year six, the average dose of alcohol was higher when co-used with cannabis or co-used with nicotine compared to single use of alcohol.

The average dose of cannabis was not significantly different when used singularly or co-used with either alcohol or nicotine in the study years examined.

Next is an article in the Journal of Addiction Medicine titled "Impact of Addiction Consult Service on Alcohol Use Disorder Medications and Post-Discharge Outcomes." This retrospective cohort study evaluated the impact of Multidisciplinary Addiction Consult Service, or ACS, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center from twenty eighteen to twenty twenty-five on inpatient initiation of MAUD, MAUD prescribed at discharge, and thirty-day readmission, ED presentation, or death.

A total of forty-four hundred admissions were included in the analysis.

ACS consultation was associated with a thirty-two percent higher rate of MAUD initiation while inpatient, a seven percent higher rate of MAUD prescriptions at discharge, and a five percent reduction in thirty-day readmission, ED presentation, or death as compared to usual care.

Medscape, back in March, headlines a question again: "Is the US entering a fifth wave of the overdose crisis?" And the man they're quoting is Dr.

Brian Hurley, president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine.

Not a critic, not a conservative, the guy who runs the association.

He practices in Los Angeles, and he gives them his own city's number.

Thank you.

I don't have to argue with you.

The president of the Addiction Medicine profession said it in print in March, and not one media outlet carried it.

And there's a number in that same piece I can't get out of my head because it isn't a death certificate, it's a measurement of living people.

I first learned about today's guest because a follower on Instagram had actually written specially to me just to say, have you checked out Dr. Aimee's page? And I'm so glad I did.

Dr. Aimee is a physician in preventive and addiction medicine, best-selling author, and one of the clearest, most grounded voices in trauma physiology today.

Her new book, The Biology of Trauma, is scientifically rich, incredibly easy to read, and bagged nine book awards in just two months of being released.

She carries not just deep professional expertise, such as carrying master's degrees in both biochemistry and public health, but equally deep personal experience in her journey as a foster mum, something that has shaped her work in profound ways.

And so I'm excited for this conversation.

Wow.

Aimee, you're a physician with training in biochemistry, public health, addiction medicine, and you're also a foster mum.

Like, wow, could you share the moment or the season where all those different worlds collided and you realised, oh my goodness, I need to understand trauma at the level of the body?

This is The Week in Addiction Medicine, a podcast resource of timely news and top stories brought to you by the American Society of Addiction Medicine, ASAM.

Today is Tuesday, September 8th, and I'm Zach Caruso.

Our lead story this week is in NEJM evidence and is titled U.S. Drug Overdose Deaths That Occurred in Isolation, 2022-2024.

Components of the approach include use of peer interactions to promote beneficial behavioral change while still recognizing and including parental connection.

While additional research is being conducted on this specific therapy program, The authors support new approaches that incorporate developmental research to treat adolescents.

This concludes today's episode of This Week in Addiction Medicine.

Remember to subscribe to the ASAM Weekly for more exclusive content and our editor's commentary, delivered every Tuesday.

Be sure to check us out on social media and at ASAM.org.

She's a PA with 25 years of experience in

emergency medicine and nearly a decade in addiction medicine.

Her work focuses on really lowering the barriers that we're having with evidence-based addiction treatment.

And as you will get to know, she is transforming healthcare systems out there, especially for people in communities with substance use

I know that Ariana is the senior director at BridgeCare, which I'm really excited to talk about because they're launching a California BridgeConnect helpline for patients in communities in California to get resources quickly and treatment that is accessible in California.

So I also know that she is currently the president of California Academy of PAs.

So not only is she busy with the professional work, but she also is healthy PAs and advocating for PAs with CAPA and also a board member of SAMPA, which is the Society of Addiction Medicine, which again, I want to promote.

The website is addictionpas.org. Ariana, you can already tell I was really, really happy to be one of our first guests for this season.