Who We Are
The PCSS-B is a training and mentoring program focused on increasing access to treatment for opioid dependent patients. This program provides training that leads to waiver eligibility for physicians to provide office based treatment of opioid dependence from office based practice.
The program also offers webinar based continuing education and mentoring. The American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP), the American Osteopathic Academy of Addiction Medicine (AOAAM) and the American Psychiatric Association (APA) operate the Physicians' Clinical Support System for Buprenorphine (PCSS-B) in a collaborative program.
The PCSS-B project brings together three of the five national organizations named in the DATA 2000 legislation to undertake extensive training and mentoring of physicians who either are or are likely to practice in areas, both urban and remote, where there are large numbers of patients in great need of treatment for opioid addiction. Through the cooperative sharing of our organizations expertise and resources in Addiction Medicine and Addiction Psychiatry, we will provide a new and expanded system of outreach to and mentoring for physicians.
The American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry
www.aaap.org
With a membership of almost 1,000 addiction psychiatrists, all with primary interests in clinical care and education, the AAAP has been a key national organization involved with training and mentoring physicians providing treatment for substance use disorders. AAAP has taken the lead in developing new methods of training that have seen widespread success, particularly in the area of office-based treatment of opioid dependence. Specifically, AAAP developed the first eight-hour, online buprenorphine training leading to waiver eligibility. More recently, AAAP developed the Half and Half training in response to Satisfaction Survey data from our eight-hour trainings [please see Educational and Training Resources section for more details].
American Osteopathic Academy of Addiction Medicine
www.aoaam.org
AOAAM is an academy dedicated to improving the understanding of addiction as a disease, committed to attaining science-based core competencies in prevention, assessment, and treatment planning by all osteopathic physicians, with a leadership voice in the osteopathic profession for sound public policy associated with the problems of substance use disorders and in reducing the stigma of addiction. AOAAM has established a four-hour online training program to be used in conjunction with four hours of face-to-face didactics, similar to that described by AAAP. AOAAM has also established a close association with a majority of osteopathic medical schools in an attempt to ensure core competencies in addiction medicine are being taught.
The American Psychiatric Association
www.psych.org
Founded in 1844, the APA is the world’s largest psychiatric organization and represents psychiatric physicians from the U.S. and around the globe. APA’s 38,000 members share a common interest in the continuing study of psychiatry and the search for more effective ways to combat mental illnesses. As physicians, psychiatrists are concerned with the medical diagnosis and treatment for all persons with mental disorders, including intellectual disabilities and substance-related disorders. APA Members are primarily medical specialists who are psychiatrists or in the process of becoming psychiatrists.
