SUNY Downstate Receives $945,000 Grant to Train Residents and Students in Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) for Patients at Risk for Substance Abuse
Oct 1, 2015
Award Will Create SBIRT Training Center, Develop Curricula, and Measure Success
Brooklyn, NY – SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University has received a $945,000 grant from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to create the SUNY Downstate SBIRT Training Center.
The new center will train resident physicians in the Departments of Medicine, Family Medicine, and Psychiatry in the College of Medicine and physician assistant and midwifery students in the School of Health Professions in the skills necessary to provide evidence-based screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) to patients who are at risk for a substance abuse disorder.
Jack A. DeHovitz, MD, MPH, FACP, Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Medicine, serves as principal investigator on the grant, which comes to SUNY Downstate via The Research Foundation for The State University of New York.
The SBIRT Center will develop and implement SBIRT training curricula tailored to these five health profession groups: HIV track internal medicine residents; HIV track physician assistant students; midwifery students; family medicine residents; and psychiatry residents. The center will also train subspecialist faculty to build internal leadership capacity and ensure sustainability; train the five trainee groups to conduct SBIRT in clinical settings; and serve as a resource for Brooklyn clinicians for SBIRT training. The three-year grant will also provide for the creation of a series of measurable objectives to evaluate the program’s success.
The SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University SBIRT Training Center is supported by grant number: 1 H79 TI026005-01.
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About SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn is one of four academic health centers (AMCs) in The State University of New York (SUNY) 64-campus system and the only SUNY AMC in New York City dedicated to health education, research, and patient care for the borough’s 2.7 million residents. Its flagship hospital, University Hospital at Downstate (UHD), is a teaching hospital and benefits from the expertise of Downstate’s exceptional medical school and world-class academic center research facilities. With a staff of over 800 physicians representing 53 specialties and subspecialties, Downstate offers comprehensive healthcare services to the community.
UHD provides high-risk neonatal and infant services, pediatric nephrology, and dialysis for kidney diseases and is the only kidney transplantation program in Brooklyn. Beyond its clinical expertise, Downstate houses a range of esteemed educational institutions, including its College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, School of Graduate Studies, and School of Public Health. Downstate fosters innovation through its multifaceted biotechnology initiative, the Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT, which support early-stage and more mature biotech companies.