American Society of Addiciton Medicine
Aug 9, 2021 Reporting from Rockville, MD
ASAM Leadership Series: Dr. Saitz, MPH, FACP, DFASAM
https://www.asam.org/blog-details/article/2021/08/09/asam-leadership-series-dr.-saitz-interview
Aug 9, 2021
Dr. Saitz, MPH, FACP, DFASAM, is, by all account, a funny and charming man who is also an accomplished researcher and expert in (among areas) SBIRT.

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ASAM Leadership Series: Dr. Saitz, MPH, FACP, DFASAM

Aug 9, 2021

When someone thinks about a researcher, the stereotypical image brought to mind might be of a quiet, bookish person in a lab. While this may hold true for some researchers, nothing could be further from the truth where Dr. Richard Saitz, MPH, FACP, DFASAM, is concerned. Dr. Saitz is, by all account, a funny and charming man who is also an accomplished researcher and expert in (among areas) SBIRT.

Dr. Saitz’s involvement in ASAM came courtesy of Dr. Mayo-Smith, the medical director of the detoxification unit at the VA Hospital where Dr. Saitz was conducting the clinical portion of his research training fellowship. Dr. Mayo-Smith was deeply interested in practice guidelines and he mentored Dr. Saitz in the conduct of a randomized trial that established a standard for alcohol withdrawal treatment, which was published in JAMA in 1994. From there, Dr. Saitz “quickly found out that participating in a national professional organization was a good way to do positive things for a field and for patients.”

When asked what membership in ASAM meant to him, Dr. Saitz said that

...it is important for a profession and field to have a voice. ASAM can serve as that voice, and brings together many who care about the same things to speak to the world beyond the profession. ASAM has given me many opportunities to go beyond my own work, on the practice guideline committee, to working on appropriate terminology for the field, to being able to share results of research at national meetings, as an editor of ASAM’s textbook, and now, as editor of ASAM’s journal.

He also said that he enjoys producing high quality, scientifically-based publications with smart, thoughtful, caring, diverse, and respectful colleagues.

Dr. Saitz’s interest in research goes back to his time as a resident at Boston City Hospital. Although it has long been recognized that evidence-based practices help medical professionals to deliver the best care to patients, he discovered that there were very few, small, trials of mostly medications for alcohol withdrawal. After finding a “mentor who was interested in addiction, it was natural that I would do studies in addiction medicine, and become an expert at designing and interpreting clinical research in that area.”  

ASAM members can help to further clinical practice by doing research, becoming well-versed in how to critically appraise research, or writing/commenting on clinical research in ASAM publications. Dr. Saitz also encourages members to help inform the design of studies and to work “with investigators to assure the results of studies will be welcome, needed, and applicable in clinical practice.”

Looking to the future of research in addiction medicine, Dr. Saitz is quite excited by research which will help doctors get the best science based treatments to patients who need them and how to help people who do not seek help for the disease of addiction. He also thinks that personalized medicine as well as pharmacogenetics and other genomic approaches will help, but they will not be as important. He sees ASAM really developing the idea of integrated care in general health settings and working on new ways to further develop non-physician practitioners in order to deliver the best care to patients.

He also sees some definite challenges on the horizon for the field. As addiction medicine becomes more integrated into general practice, ASAM will need to figure out ways to help support general clinicians as well as addiction medicine specialists. He says that “doing so will allow ASAM physicians to remain highly relevant to society and to the rest of the ‘house of medicine’.” For anyone who is new to the field, Dr. Saitz has these words:

Addiction medicine is a great choice for a new physician. My first recommendation is to stick with it. In health care settings (which is where addiction medicine belongs) there is a real thirst for physicians who know this special area and can design and implement programs for patients. There is great opportunity in research, clinical care, program design, evaluation and leadership, and even for leadership roles in general health settings where forward-thinking administrators and medical leaders recognize the critical role played by addiction in health care outcomes and costs. My second recommendation, which follows, is to take on roles that are integrated with the rest of medicine, to the extent possible, and be a part of that revolution.

 

 

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