MGH Addiction Medicine Fellowship

Overview

In 2023, 48.5 million people had a substance use disorder (SUD), yet only one in four received treatment. Despite the significant impact of SUD, few physicians have the opportunity to gain specialty training in addiction medicine.

The Massachusetts General Hospital Addiction Medicine Fellowship will prepare physicians for clinical and academic careers in Addiction Medicine with a focus on developing and enhancing evidence-based addiction prevention and treatment services, building new innovative systems of care, and providing the highest quality of care.

Through a combination of inpatient and outpatient care spanning a range of settings, fellows will receive training in the knowledge and skills to become expert clinicians and leaders in the field of Addiction Medicine

Video: Addiction Medicine Fellowship Program at Mass General.

Requirements

Eligible candidates will have completed an ACGME–accredited residency program prior to the start date of fellowship.

Curriculum

Training provides an overview of the field of Addiction Medicine with an emphasis on training Addiction Medicine physicians who will educate other clinicians and trainees in the community; rigorously assess and incorporate scientific evidence into their practice, and deliver compassionate, patient-centered care. The curriculum includes training in comprehensive treatment of the full spectrum of SUD, pharmacotherapy, psychosocial interventions, motivational interviewing, co-occurring medical and psychiatric diseases, and perinatal SUD.

Training will comprise didactic and clinical experiences across the spectrum of addiction care, including the following core and elective rotations:

Core Rotations:

• Inpatient consultation on the Addiction Consult Team at Mass General
• Urgent and transitional addiction treatment in the Mass General outpatient Bridge Clinic
• Outpatient addiction treatment integrated into Primary Care at Mass General community health centers and primary care settings: Chelsea HealthCare Center, Charlestown HealthCare Center, and Internal Medicine Associates
• Outpatient addiction treatment in a community-based opioid treatment program
• Addiction treatment in the Emergency Department at Mass General
• Outpatient alcohol addiction treatment in the Alcohol Liver Center at Mass General
• Addiction treatment at Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program
• Dual-diagnosis treatment in Mass General’s specialty outpatient clinics for adults and adolescents
• Coordinated treatment and care for pregnant and parenting women with substance use disorders and their families at the MGH HOPE Clinic
• Rural addiction care in Western MA
• Community-based addiction experiences

Elective Rotation

Fellows will have 10-12 weeks of elective rotations. Electives will offer fellows an opportunity to deepen their experience in one of the areas of required training, including the following:
• Methadone Maintenance
• Community-based addiction treatment
• Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program
• The Bridge Clinic
• Co-occurring disorders
• Inpatient Addiction Consultation
• Infectious Diseases
• Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital

Fellows may also create custom electives with the help of the program director focused on their unique interests. Some examples of possible electives include the following:
• Clinical rotations in other types of community treatment programs
• Obstetrics and gynecology – caring for pregnant women with addiction
• Pediatric or adoclescent treatment programs
• Scholarly projects
• Developing and delivering addiction medicine education to other clinicians or trainees

Fellows have protected time throughout the year to work on scholarly projects.

Fellows become essential members of multi-disciplinary care teams comprised of counselors, social workers, recovery coaches, resource specialists, nurses, psychologists, advanced practice providers and physicians from a variety of specialties.
Fellows will participate in national didactic sessions with ACAAM and attend weekly didactics led by MGB PSAS program faculty covering a range of topics related to the fundamentals of addiction medicine

Mentorship and Career Development

Mentorship and career development is an important aspect of our program. Within the first three months of the program, each fellow will meet with our Program Director(s) to discuss career goals. Program Directors concretely explore fellows’ career aspirations including geography and type of faculty position and provide guidance on the job search process, including where to search for posted job opportunities and what networking opportunities exist at local and national meetings. Program directors directly connect fellows to addiction medicine colleagues based on fellows’ interests and utilize their own professional networks to make introductions for fellows to speak with leaders in the field in geographic regions of interest to begin exploring job opportunities. In addition, our faculty represent a variety of care settings and are eager to support and mentor fellows depending on their interests. After the initial meeting, career planning sessions continued monthly for the remainder of the training year.

How to Apply

We are currently accepting applications for the 2027–2028 academic year. Applications must be submitted through ERAS, For additional information regarding the application timeline, please visit the ERAS website.

All completed applications will be reviewed by the Fellowship Training Committee. Following the initial review, the Program Director may conduct a brief telephone interview before extending an invitation for a formal interview.

Interviews for the 2027–2028 academic year will be held in September and October 2026. At this time, we anticipate that all interviews will be conducted virtually.

Meet Our Team

Addiction Medicine Fellowship Faculty

• Sarah Wakeman, MD
• Jessica Gray, MD
• Michael Bierer, MD, MPH
• Deviney Chaponis, MD
• Jessie M. Gaeta , MD
• Evan D Gale, MD
• Laura Kehoe, MD, MPH
• Eugene Lambert, MD
• Cheryl Monteiro, MD
• Wei Sum Li, MD
• Jacquelyn Moss, MD
• Dawn Williamson, RN, DNP, PMHCNS-BC, CARN-AP
• Christopher Shaw, NP

Current Fellows

JYLA HICKS, MD, MS (she/her)

Jyla is from Columbus, Ohio and attended North Carolina Central University, a historically Black college that deepened her commitment to health equity. She earned both her Master of Medical Sciences and Medical Degree from Boston University School of Medicine, and completed her Internal Medicine residency at Boston Medical Center. As a passionate advocate for health justice she has actively contributed to the Medical Justice Alliance, focusing on efforts to improve care and advocate for the rights of incarcerated individuals through advocacy, education, and expert medical review.
Her interest in addiction medicine is shaped by both personal and clinical experiences, including early exposure to substance use withinher community, which fostered a foundation of compassion and understanding that she has carried into her medical training. As a SAMHSA REACH Scholar (Recognizing and Eliminating Disparities in Addiction through Culturally-Informed Healthcare), she focuses on advancing equitable addiction care at the intersection of health equity, policy, and advocacy. She hopes to build a career as an addiction medicine physician advancing patient-centered, community-based models of care.
Outside of medicine, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, hosting gatherings, traveling, and trying new restaurants

DANIEL ARRIOLA, MD (he/him)

Daniel Arriola is a Southern California native who was raised in a resource limited community and experienced housing instability growing up. These early experiences shaped a deeply personal commitment to addiction medicine and to addressing disparities in care, grounding his desire to serve people who have been historically marginalized. He is a double Bruin, having earned both his undergraduate degree in neuroscience and his medical degree from UCLA through the David Geffen School of Medicine and the Charles R. Drew Medical Education Program. He completed his Family Medicine residency at Loma Linda University Murrieta Medical Center, where he received full spectrum training in whole person care and built a strong foundation in addiction and community-based care. He is committed to building and leading programs that expand access to compassionate, evidence-based addiction care for people experiencing homelessness. His faith is central to his life and calling, guiding his commitment to serve others with humility, compassion, and purpose.

SOPHIE KERMAN, MD (she/her)

Sophie graduated from Brown Medical School and completed her internal medicine residency at BMC. To share her in her own words about her interests, “Before attending medical school, I worked as a case manager assistant at a federally qualified health center in New Orleans, where I had the privilege of working with patients who were dealing with a difficult nexus of HIV and addiction. As a case manager, I witnessed patients' inability to access basic resources but was also present for success: the great joy of finally getting housing or starting to feel strong again after starting anti-retroviral. Later, as a patient navigator in medical school, I developed a relationship with a community member with alcohol use disorder; both experiences reaffirmed my then nascent interest in addiction medicine. My excitement about the field has been nourished in residency at Boston Medical Center, which supports one of the largest populations of patients with substance use disorder in the region. In working with the addiction medicine providers first at the transition’s clinic at Brown University and then at BMC and the associated entity, Boston Healthcare for the Homeless, I feel that I have found my academic community.”

Past Fellows

Vivian Kalu, MD (she/her)

Vivian received her medical degree from the American University of Antigua. During her clinical rotations in Baltimore, she developed a strong interest in addiction medicine. She then completed her Internal Medicine residency at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, where she trained in the Inclusion Health and Primary Care tracks. As a SAMSHA REACH Scholar (Recognizing and Eliminating Disparities in Addiction through Culturally Informed Healthcare), she continues to engage in research on health disparities and access to addiction care for people facing complex social and structural challenges. She hopes to build a career as a primary care–addiction medicine physician, working to develop practical, patient-centered approaches that meet people where they are.

Outside of medicine, she enjoys exploring new culinary experiences, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.

Shraddha Damaraju, MD, MPH (She/Her)

Shraddha grew up in Delaware & attended Drexel University in Philadelphia, where she developed a strong interest in health equity and public health. Through partnering with local communities for naloxone distribution + overdose prevention education, she became interested in addiction medicine. She completed residency in Internal Medicine/Primary Care at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she fostered her interest in medical education through addiction medicine curricular building. She deeply values the power of local communities in promoting public health and hopes to become a primary care physician focused on caring for people at the intersection of various systems of oppression, particularly patients with substance use disorders.

Outside of medicine, she loves spending time with her husband and family, finding new nature trails and local towns to explore, playing video & board games with friends, and making jewelry.

Sarah (SK) Kler (She/Her)

Inaugural Matthew Perry Fellow

Preferred name: SK

SK is from Eugene, Oregon and attended medical school at Brown University. She completed residency in Internal Medicine-Primary Care at Massachusetts General Hospital followed by a year as Chief Resident.

During residency and chief year, she furthered her interests in primary care, street medicine and homeless health, harm reduction, health equity, and medical education through a variety of experiences, including longitudinal work with Boston Healthcare for the Homeless. She hopes to craft a career as a primary care-addiction medicine clinician-educator, helping forward person-centered team-based care for people experiencing homelessness.

She enjoys public library reading challenges, board games, cooking from community supported agriculture, and spending time outdoors with her friends, husband, and dog, Dilly Bean.

Fellowship Executive Leadership Team

Sarah E. Wakeman, MD – Director, PSAS

Jess Gray, MD – Fellowship Program Director

Daniel Liauw, MD, MPH- Associate Program Director