UCSF Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Program

Welcome to the UCSF Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Program! We are proud to offer a one-year, ACGME-accredited fellowship that provides state-of-the art addiction training, all in the San Francisco Bay area.

Why UCSF?  |  How to apply  |  Faculty and fellows  |  Sites and rotations  |  Didactics

Why UCSF?

The Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship emphasizes evidence-based treatments – including psychosocial therapies, behavioral therapies, and psychopharmacology – for a range of substance use disorders. Prominent features include:

• Sub-specialty clinics with UCSF faculty supervision (see “Sites and Rotations”)
• One of two national Substance Use and PTSD (SUPT) VA clinics
• Adolescent and family treatment experience
• Training in motivational interviewing with nationally recognized experts
• Psychotherapy training, including supervision with a trained psychoanalyst
• Elective rotation in a private residential addiction treatment center
• Consultation work at two major San Francisco hospitals
• Clinical research, including cutting-edge buprenorphine and cannabis research
• Mentorship within national organizations, including the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP), American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) and California Society of Addiction Medicine (CSAM)
• Opportunities to teach UCSF medical students, residents, and fellows
• All sites located in the San Francisco area, near many local sites and amenities
• The UCSF Addiction Psychiatry fellowship program remains committed to training physicians with a diverse range of backgrounds and life experiences to match the needs of our patients
   

Applying to the Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship

We have filled our class for the 2023-2024 academic year and are now accepting applications for the 2024-2025 academic year.

Applicants must have completed an ACGME-accredited general adult residency in psychiatry and have a valid, completely unrestricted California medical license, DEA license to prescribe buprenorphine, and California ePDMP login (CURES) prior to the starting date (July 1).

How to apply

Our program uses the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) to process applications. Visit the ERAS website to learn more.

We encourage applicants to submit materials as early in the application period given the fact that interviews are offered on a rolling basis. Recruitment will be conducted virtually. Requests for onsite tours of the campus will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

The recruitment timeline for fellows starting July 1, 2024, is as follows:

• July 5, 2023: ERAS applications open
• July 19, 2023: ERAS application released to the fellowship programs
• July–November 2023 (~four months): Interview season
• Nov. 15, 2023: Applicant and program NRMP Rank Order lists due
• Nov. 29, 2023: Match Day
• After Nov. TBA, 2023: Applicants can apply to programs directly
   

Submission process and deadline

Fellowship selection will occur via the NRMP Match and we will be recruiting up to four fellows. Please submit all application materials to the ERAS website once the application cycle opens and contact program coordinator Sally Guthrie, at [email protected] with any questions.

Leadership team

	Tauheed Zaman, MD ​Director, Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Program Health Sciences Associate Clinical Professor, UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Director, Addiction Consult and Opioid Safety San Francisco VA Medical Center
	​Takeo Toyoshima, MD Associate Director, Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Program Health Sciences Assistant Clinical Professor, UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Director, Drug & Alcohol Treatment (DAT) Clinic San Francisco VA Medical Center
	Stephen Leung, MD VA Site Director, Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Program Deputy Director, Addiction Consult and Opioid Safety Staff Psychiatrist, Opioid Treatment Program San Francisco VA Medical Center
	Katherine Pier, MD Volunteer Assistant Clinical Professor, UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Kaiser Site Director, Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Program Kaiser Permanente, San Francisco

Core faculty

	Eric Alcid, MD, PhD Medical Director, Opioid Treatment Program San Francisco VA Medical Center
	Steven L. Batki, MD Senior Consultant, Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Program Professor, UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Director, Addiction Research Program San Francisco VA Medical Center
	Mark Elliott, MD Health Sciences Assistant Clinical Professor, UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Staff Psychiatrist, Drug and Alcohol Treatment Program San Francisco VA Medical Center
	Murtuza Ghadiali, MD Volunteer Associate Clinical Professor, UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Assistant Chief, Chemical Dependency Recovery Program Kaiser Permanente, San Francisco
	Ellen Herbst, MD Health Sciences Clinical Professor, UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Medical Director, Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) Chief, Addiction, Recovery, and Treatment Services (ARTS) San Francisco VA Medical Center
	Michael Hoefer, MD Consultant, Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Program Health Sciences Associate Clinical Professor, UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences San Francisco VA Medical Center
	Monika Koch, MD, FASAM Volunteer Assistant Clinical Professor, UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Addiction Psychiatrist, Addiction Medicine and Recovery Services The Permanente Medical Group, San Francisco
	John Straznickas, MD Health Sciences Associate Clinical Professor, UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Director, Substance Use/PTSD (SUPT) Clinic San Francisco VA Medical Center

Community supervisors

	Jeffrey Devido, MD Volunteer Assistant Clinical Professor, UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Director of Addiction Services, Marin Country Department of Public Health
	David Kan, MD, DFASAM Volunteer Assistant Clinical Professor, UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Medical Director, Bright Heart Health Private practice

Volunteer clinical faculty

	Kristine Burkman, PhD Health Sciences Associate Clinical Professor, UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Staff Psychologist, Substance Use and PTSD Clinic San Francisco VA Medical Center
	Marcus Ellis, PharmD, BCPP Substance Use/Mental Health Clinical Pharmacist Specialist Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Consultant San Francisco VA Medical Center
	Christopher Galloway, PhD Health Sciences Associate Clinical Professor, UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Director, Intensive Outpatient and Transitions Programs San Francisco VA Medical Center
	Erin Watson, PsyD Health Sciences Associate Clinical Professor, UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Clinical Health Psychologist, Integrated Care Psychology Associate Director for Psychology, Education for Patient Aligned Care Teams San Francisco VA Medical Center

Current and former Addiction Psychiatry fellows

Sites and rotations 

The San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC) and Kaiser Permanente Addiction Medicine & Recovery Services (AMRS) are teaching sites for UCSF, and training is considered a core mission.

Download: Sample Rotation Schedule (.pdf)

SFVAMC rotations

San Francisco VA Medical Center

• Drug and Alcohol Treatment (DAT): treating a range of non-opioid addictions
• Opiate Treatment Program (OTP): buprenorphine, methadone, Vivitrol treatment
• Substance Use and PTSD (SUPT): combat-related PTSD and addictions
• Prescription Opioid Safety Team (POST): consulting on pain/opioid misuse patients
• Addiction Consultation (AddCon): consulting on general addiction patients
• Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP): higher-level three days/week treatment program
• Tobacco Cessation Clinic: behavioral and pharmacologic approaches to cessation
• Elective: half-day/week where fellows select experiences to help develop an understanding of the substance treatment community in the Bay Area. Recent fellow experiences have included the John Muir Adolescent Substance Use Treatment Program, San Francisco Syringe Access Program, San Francisco County Jail Buprenorphine Program, San Francisco Street Medicine Outreach Team to Homeless Encampments, San Francisco VA Ketamine Clinic, and various electives available through Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center.
• Several programs also include groups with opportunities for facilitation training, hospital consultations, and/or opportunities for consulting via video visits to remote patients.
   

Kaiser AMRS

Kaiser AMRS

Kaiser AMRS provides a spectrum of services, which include medical stabilization and detoxification, day treatment, intensive outpatient treatment, multi-cultural and bilingual groups, and psychiatric treatment of co-morbid conditions. AMRS also provides comprehensive treatment for adolescents and families. As part of a larger medical system, AMRS provides integrated consultative services for patients with obstetrical (pregnancy), chronic pain, HIV or Hepatitis C conditions or those requiring emergency or hospital consultation.

Alta Mira

Alta Mira is a private treatment center for substance use and co-occurring disorders. Fellowship elective experiences here include the opportunity to work alongside faculty in performing patient assessments and treatment in a private residential treatment setting.

Alta Mira

Didactics

Addiction psychiatry fellows have a half day of protected time each Wednesday afternoon for didactics and supervision. These sessions are often led by local and national experts in the field of addiction. Didactics include:

1. Addiction seminar: a weekly, 90-minute seminar covering a range of fundamental topics, aimed at a multidisciplinary audience of physicians, psychologists, social workers and trainees
2. Education hour: a weekly, 60-minute interactive teaching session including Addiction Board review, case presentations, journal club, talks on advanced addiction topics
3. Western Region addiction seminar: a monthly, 90-minute seminar between addiction psychiatry fellows and faculty in the Western Region of the U.S. for networking, career mentoring, and education from experts within specialized areas of addiction
4. Faculty teaching: several faculty members provide rotation-specific didactics relevant to their area of expertise throughout the year
5. Faculty supervision hour: weekly supervision in career development, advanced addiction psychopharmacology, addiction psychotherapy, addiction private practice, and addiction and forensic psychiatry overlap
6. UCSF Grand Rounds & Drug Use Research Group: research presentations on innovative harm reduction strategies, public health interventions, and drug policy
7. Addiction medicine collaboration: scheduled didactics, clinical exposure, and community site visits with UCSF Primary Care Addiction Medicine fellows and faculty
8. UCSF Addiction Bootcamp lectures available on Youtube
    

Previous addiction seminar topics include:

• Psychedelics and Substance Use
• Cannabis: Biology to Policy
• The Relationship Between Disability Payments and Substance Use
• PTSD, Alcohol Use Disorder and TBI- Treatment Challenges and Strategies
• Clinical Drug Testing and the Medical Review Officer
• Addiction Group Therapy
• Three Views on Chronic Pain and Opioid Use Disorder
   

Previous education hour topics include:

• The Intersection of Addiction and Forensic Psychiatry (with forensic and addiction psychiatrist Dr. David Kan)
• Management of Complex Benzodiazepine Tapers
• Motivational Interviewing for the Rushed Physician
• A Research Career in Addiction Psychiatry (with research psychologist Dr. Pennington)
• Journal clubs and complex addiction case presentations