ASAM Launches CME Program to Educate Physicians on Addiction Treatment

Dr. Kathleen Whaley is an MD with years of experience as an emergency care and urgent care physician. Now strongly focusing on addiction medicine, Dr. Kathleen Whaley is a member of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). 

ASAM was established in 1954 as a professional society that represents medical professionals in the field of addiction medicine. The organization is committed to continuously improving the quality of addiction treatment through the education of physicians. In October 2018, ASAM launched the Fundamentals of Addiction Medicine CME Program, a 40-hour program that provides physicians and primary care professionals with the knowledge they need to recognize addiction as a disease and improves patient access to evidence-based treatments. 

Addiction places a tremendous burden on America’s health system. As many as 20.5 million Americans struggle with addiction. However, only 10 percent of these people receive specialized treatment. Part of the problem is that medical care professionals, who often receive patients with addictions, receive little education on addiction during medical training. ASAM’s CME program seeks to correct that. 

The online program was developed by leading addiction physician specialists to arm physicians, nurses, and other care providers with knowledge about addiction and its treatment. It also covers pain management, opioids, and treatment of opioid use disorder while providing a networking platform for physicians to discuss treatment issues. Physicians who complete the program receive 40 CME credits and a certificate.

Board Certification from the American Board of Addiction Medicine

The recipient of an MD from the Indiana University School of Medicine, Dr. Kathleen Whaley has served as an addiction medicine physician at several health care facilities. Accomplished in her field, Dr. Kathleen Whaley maintains board certification from the American Board of Addiction Medicine (ABAM).

ABAM board certification signals to the public that an addiction medicine physician has demonstrated superior professional competence. The highest standard in the field of addiction medicine, ABAM board certification is achieved through a rigorous evaluation process.

This process begins with ABAM determining that a physician holds the required educational and clinical credentials. Those who meet the organization’s requirements then take a six-hour examination. Designed by an expert panel in collaboration with the National Board of Medical Examiners, the examination tests whether a candidate has the skills, knowledge, judgment, and professionalism to provide exceptional care to patients dealing with addiction.

Candidates who pass the examination earn ABAM board certification. To maintain this credential, physicians must complete ongoing continuing education courses and pass a periodic maintenance of certification examination. Doing so ensures that those who hold ABAM board certification continuously have the tools to furnish the highest level of care.

Scientists Identify Link Between Heroin and Dopamine

Dr. Kathleen Whaley, a board-certified addiction medicine physician, has cared for patients in a variety of recovery settings, including medication-assisted treatment (MAT), partial hospitalization programs (PHP), and inpatient care. Dr. Kathleen Whaley also maintains active membership in the national and Indiana chapters of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, through which she encounters new developments in her field.

A recent study out of the University of Geneva, Switzerland, has revealed findings indicating dopamine as a contributing factor in the processes of addiction. Dopamine's role in addiction has been debated for a number of years, but the Geneva team has demonstrated its connection with heroin through several mouse model experiments.

One experiment showed that after the team gave heroin to the subject mice, the level of dopamine in the subjects' neural reward center increased significantly. A subsequent experiment involving repeated exposure yielded similar results.

The team then sought to link dopamine with the addiction process itself. In mouse subjects with heroin addictions, which were demonstrated by a tendency to self-administer the drug using a touch lever, the activity of dopamine neurons was inhibited and there was a significant decrease in self-administration of the drug. The link between dopamine release and heroin addiction was solidified with the next experiment, which replaced a laser light addiction with a heroin addiction in mice with manipulated dopamine neurons.

The study's senior author, Professor Christian Lüscher, believes that these findings mark important progress in the effort to understand addiction pathways. According to Dr. Lüscher, with more research, knowledge of these pathways could improve both addiction science and pain management.

Addiction and the Human Brain

As a board-certified addiction medicine physician, Dr. Kathleen Whaley has cared for patients in both New York and Indiana. Dr. Kathleen Whaley currently works at Conifer Park in Rochester, New York, where she draws on an in-depth understanding of neurological addiction processes.

At its core, addiction is a change in the brain's reward system. The human brain naturally reinforces behaviors that feel good, largely through the release of neurotransmitters like dopamine. Addictive substances activate the same processes, despite the fact that the substances themselves are harmful to the body.

Dependence occurs because those same substances overstimulate the brain's reward system. They increase the feelings of pleasure associated with taking the drug, which causes the person to repeat the behavior to excess. The person's brain begins to prioritize use of the drug above other, healthier alternatives. Furthermore, the brain learns to associate certain situations and stimuli with the pleasure of the drug. Those cravings further intensify the person's need to use the substance.

In time, these floods of pleasure-causing chemicals inhibit the brain's ability to produce normal levels of neurotransmitters. Without the drug, the person feels listless, depressed, and unable to enjoy other activities. Normal use of the drug becomes baseline and the person needs more of it to feel “high"; the increased use further damages the brain and body.

The Pharos - The Journal of Alpha Omega Alpha

An accomplished addiction-medicine physician in Rochester, New York, Kathleen Whaley, MD, completed medical school at Indiana University (IU) in Bloomington. While enrolled at IU, Dr. Kathleen Whaley gained admittance to the prestigious Alpha Omega Alpha national honor society.

For more than 115 years, Alpha Omega Alpha has been dedicated to furthering the medical profession and improving patient care by honoring exceptional educational achievement and teaching, encouraging medical leadership, and promoting clinical service to others. The organization furthers these goals through its quarterly journal, The Pharos.

In publication since 1938, The Pharos borrows its name from the Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world and a symbol for the guiding light of knowledge. This journal releases scholarly essays on non-technical medical subjects that range from the ethics of patient treatment to the history of healthcare. It also publishes topic-appropriate poems and other examples of medical-related literature.

ASAM Responds to New CMS Fee Schedule

An accomplished addiction physician in New York, Dr. Kathleen Whaley earned her MD from Indiana University before embarking on a medical career that has spanned nearly three decades. An active member in her field, Dr. Kathleen Whaley belongs to various professional groups such as the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM).

Founded in 1954, ASAM has emerged as a leading professional organization dedicated to addiction medicine and its practitioners. The organization serves more than 5,500 members through a combination of networking events, research publications, and professional development opportunities. It also works as a leading advocate for policies related to the practice of addiction medicine.

In September 2018, ASAM issued a response to the proposed 2019 physician fee schedule published by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The proposed CMS schedule includes a new dedicated payment to Medicare providers specifically for substance abuse disorders. In the statement published by ASAM, the organization stated that it appreciated the attempt by CMS to recognize addiction medicine with the new substance abuse disorder payments, but noted this accommodation would not be enough to fight the opioid epidemic that is sweeping the United States. 

Specifically, ASAM encourages CMS to create a new payment schedule that includes a separate and specific payment for addiction involving opioid use. In support of this, ASAM and the American Medical Association (AMA) have designed an alternative payment model that encourages addiction treatment administered by dedicated addiction physicians.

Understanding the Opioid Crisis

An addiction medicine professional who recently worked with Conifer Park, Dr. Kathleen Whaley earned her MD at Indiana University and holds board certification from the American Board of Addiction Medicine. Dr. Kathleen Whaley's areas of clinical concern include the opioid crisis.

Declared a public health emergency in 2017 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the opioid crisis arose as the result of an increase in prescription of opioids for controlling pain. The increase followed reassurance from the pharmaceutical companies that addiction would not be a concern.

That prediction has proved contrary. Somewhere between 21 percent and 29 percent of those who receive prescriptions for opioids misuse them, and every day in the U.S. approximately 116 people die from opioid drug overdose.

Opioids become so highly addictive because they affect not only pain, but also the emotions by increasing levels of dopamine in the brain's reward center. That increase in dopamine creates strong positive emotions. However, as the brain becomes adjusted to the effect, it requires larger and larger doses for the same result, causing dependence and then addiction.

FDA Announces New Guidelines for Addiction Medication Approval

A board-certified addiction medicine physician, Kathleen Whaley, MD, has provided medication-assisted treatment at a number of New York and Indiana hospitals. Kathleen Whaley, MD, remains active in her field as a member of the American Society of Addiction Medicine’s national and Indiana chapters.

In August 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued new recommendations for the approval of medication-assisted treatment drugs. The changes are geared toward encouraging the development of more products to treat opioid use disorder and increase the use of medication-assisted treatment (MAT). By helping participants control their opioid use disorders, MAT reduces these individuals’ risk of death by 50 percent.

In the past, clinical trials have evaluated the effectiveness of MAT drugs by assessing how well they reduce drug use for participants. The new guidelines identify additional clinical goals and outcomes, which expands the possibilities that pharmaceutical companies have for assessing the benefit of potential MAT drugs. New goals include lower mortality rates, fewer overdoses, and a reduced need for medical interventions.

Reduced opioid use remains a potential goal for evaluated drugs. Drug developers who target this endpoint can assess the percentage of patients who qualify for a diagnosis of moderate to severe opioid use disorder at the outset, but may be classified as in remission by the end of treatment. An increase in a patient’s level of functioning may also serve as evidence of positive outcomes.

Study Links Childhood Adversity to Addiction

Kathleen Whaley, MD, cares for patients as a board certified addiction medicine physician. Also a member of the American Society of Addiction Medicine's national and Indiana chapters, Kathleen Whaley, MD, remains up to date with developments in her field.

Recently, a study published in the journal Biological Psychiatry connected adversity in early childhood to cocaine addiction in later life. The research comes out of the University of Rome “La Sapienza” and the IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, both of Italy, where a team led by Dr. Luisa Lo Iacono examined the effects of stress in early life on a population of laboratory mice.

After exposing 2-week-old mice to social stress, the researchers identified an increased responsiveness to cocaine as well as structural changes in a brain region involved in reward seeking. Meanwhile, the same stress caused an increased release of inflammatory molecules by white blood cells, which cocaine exposure further intensified.

Data also revealed that use of an antibiotic to prevent immune activation during stress also guarded against an increased vulnerability to cocaine in later life. The researchers found additional evidence for this connection by comparing the immune function of individuals addicted to cocaine with that of healthy controls. The expression of genes related to immune activity were higher in participants who had experienced childhood maltreatment, and they were highest in those who also were experiencing cocaine addiction.