Opioid Use Disorder Treatment Fellowship ECHO^® Program

Information and Overview

The purpose of this fellowship program is to train primary care providers (physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants) in the assessment and treatment of opioid use disorders (OUD). The goal of the nine-month program is to increase access to opioid use disorder treatment services in areas of the state that currently have limited or no access to medications for addiction treatment. Therefore, providers from these areas will receive priority for admission.

The training will provide clinical guidance, technical support around the clinical workflows, policies and protocols to ensure compliance with clinical standards, and training in evidence-based practice.

Program Director: TBD
Schedule: 32 weekly sessions every Tuesday from 12pm – 1pm
Target Audience: all providers and their care teams

Pre-Admission Requirements

Eligible participants must commit to two requirements:

1. They must fully attend the highly interactive ONLINE Weekend Immersion Course. Throughout the weekend, participants will be asked to work collaboratively via Zoom as they engage in didactics, discuss challenging cases, and gain practice with specific tools. All training sessions will be guided by a multidisciplinary team of faculty with various expertise (e.g., family medicine, addiction medicine, addiction psychiatry, emergency medicine, toxicology, education) and training backgrounds (e.g., MD, NP, PhD). Participants must have access to a computer, with video capabilities, a stable internet connection, and a quiet distraction-free environment during the weekend course.
2. After completing the Weekend Immersion Course, participants must attend at least twenty weekly webinars on Tuesdays, 12pm-1pm. During this webinar series, each fellow will present and receive feedback on one of their own cases and participate in additional didactics on topics not covered during weekend immersion. Click HERE to see a sample schedule.

All practitioners who have a current DEA registration that includes Schedule III authority, may now prescribe buprenorphine for OUD in their practice without a waiver if permitted by applicable state law. Prior to attending the Weekend Immersion Course, participants who are not as comfortable with buprenorphine prescribing for OUD are encouraged to review and complete at least one of the free trainings below. Online trainings for physicians and NPs/PAs and can be found here:

MD/DO- https://pcssnow.org/medications-for-opioid-use-disorder/waiver-training-for-physicians/

NP- https://pcssnow.org/medications-for-opioid-use-disorder/waiver-training-for-nurses/

PA- https://pcssnow.org/medications-for-opioid-use-disorder/waiver-training-for-pas/

Illinois Helpline MAR Toolkit- https://e.helplineil.org/mar/primary-care/

Throughout the fellowship, participants will have access to expert faculty and senior fellows for ongoing educational information and individual case discussions. Participants will also have the opportunity to shadow faculty or senior fellows if they are interested.

OUD ECHO^® Faculty and Staff

Mennefer Blue

Research Assistant

Mennefer_Blue@rush.edu

Deanna Doss, LSW

Social Worker / Administrative Assistant

Deanna_P_Doss@rush.edu

Sara Flanagan, DNP, NP-C, PMHNP-BC

Subject Matter Expert (Cohort 5)
Specialty: Family Medicine (Chicago)

Chris Thorp, MD

Senior Fellow (Cohort 7)
Specialty: Internal Medicine, Pediatric Hospitalist (Chicago)

Kamaria Patterson, MHA

Education Coordinator

Jenia Heavens, FNP-C

Subject Matter Expert (Cohort 5)
Specialty: Family Medicine (Granite City)

Keshia House, DNP, APRN-FPA, FNP-BC

Subject Matter Expert (Cohort 6)
Specialty: Family Medicine (Chicago)

Michael Huyck, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC

Senior Fellow (Cohort 6)
Specialty: Family Medicine (Chicago)

Christine Neeb, MD

Program Director (Cohort 3)
Specialty: Addiction Medicine (Chicago)

Paige Pickerl, LCSW

GPRA Data/Research Manager
Paige_Pickerl@rush.edu

Dennis Smithenry, PhD

Educational Consultant
Active Learning for Adults

Tanya Sorrell, PhD, RN, PMHNP-BC, NP-C

Clinical Faculty
Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner

Veronika Speedwell, PA-C

Senior Fellow (Cohort 5)

Specialty: Internal Medicine (Chicago)

Amanda Vogel, FNP-C

Senior Fellow (Cohort 6)

Specialty: Family Medicine (Gillespie)

LaNyah Warrack

Program Coordinator

lanyah_bassett_warrack@rush.edu

These services are supported wholly or in part through a State Opioid Response (SOR) grant to the Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance and Mental Health Services Administration (TI-081699).