Department of Medicine

From the tiniest ticks of genetic expression to the sweep of organ systems, medical students gain a deep understanding of human body function. They spend hundreds of hours learning how to use tools and technologies, from stethoscopes to point of care ultrasound, to deliver the best patient care they can. However, when it comes to thorny societal issues like the intersection of race and class in medicine, unequal access to health care, and the outsized toll chronic disease can take on marginalized populations, medical students have historically had little opportunity to engage.

With new funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, UVM Associate Professor of Medicine Halle Sobel, M.D., and Elly Riser, M.D., UVM clinical instructor in medicine, are working to bring training on treating opioid use disorder as a chronic condition to physicians at the beginning of their careers – during medical school.