Building the Memphis Opioid Workforce-Graduate Psychology Education

Overview

Purpose and Need: The proposed work would enhance the opioid workforce in Memphis, TN, a designated Health Professionals Shortage Area (HPSA), by providing funding for graduate students to work as clinicians in two treatment sites in Memphis. We also will build our capacity to train future clinicians through a sustainability plan that entails expanding our substance abuse treatment at the on-campus Psychological Services Center. This program would help to address the opioid epidemic, which continues to worsen each year. This application describes a proposal by the University of Memphis Clinical Psychology PhD program (APA accredited) for funding through the Graduate Psychology Education (GPE) program. The proposed training project reflects a collaboration between the PhD program and partners both within the University of Memphis and clinical sites within the city of Memphis including two medical facilities which offer treatment for substance use disorders (SUD), including opioid use disorder (OUD). Trainees (N = 16) will engage in a multifaceted training program including coursework, applied clinical experiences in interdisciplinary settings, and a vibrant consortium comprised of faculty and students across the university. Experiential clinical settings include The University of Tennessee UT Health Science Center, Center for addiction Science (UTHSC – CAS) and the Church Health Center (CHC), a patient-centered medical home offering health care to individuals in the greater Memphis community, serving a large contingent of economically disadvantaged individuals. UTHSC – CAS offers specialized, multidisciplinary treatment for addiction and also houses a fellowship in addiction Medicine. Psychology trainees will obtain didactic training and supervision at each site. Psychology trainees will be trained in evidence-based psychosocial interventions for SUD, addressing pain with behavioral treatments, and using telehealth. Trainees will take a structured set of courses and will also engage in monthly colloquia presentations by UM faculty and community partners. The goal of this proposal is to build capacity for treating substance use disorders in the Memphis community, which reflects a high-need, medically underserved population. A sustainability plan will ensure that faculty may continue to provide training to PhD students in the delivery of these important treatments even after the conclusion of the funding period.