Betty Ford Summer Program for Med Students

[PunkRockDoc]

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Does anyone know anything about the week long summer program that the Bety Ford clinic has for medical students? Does it provide a good look into addiction psychiatry? Their website didn't have a whole lot of info.

 

[psych2b]

Yup, I did it - and loved my time there. Tons of fun, lots of learning. I'd even say that I learned more about addiction psych in my one week there than my 4 weeks of in-patient crisis psych/detox as a third-year. You basically live amongst the patients during the day, really seeing what the treatment is like. I adored it. No scut-work (unlike 3rd year med school). All learning/experiencing. Good Luck!

 

[vetiver]

Does anyone know anything about the week long summer program that the Bety Ford clinic has for medical students? Does it provide a good look into addiction psychiatry? Their website didn't have a whole lot of info.

I did this program several years ago and it was one of my best med school experiences. You spend a week there, are assigned to a unit, and do everything the patients do, including: group therapy, NA or AA sessions, exercise therapy, relaxation therapy, meals, and various lectures. You really get to experience what it's like to be in the program, and through the intense daily two-hour group therapy sessions you get a sense of what the patients have been through, what their addictions are like, and what they think of their treatment. I heard from male med students that the all-male group therapy sessions were amazing (women and men are separated for the duration of treatment.)

The program is heavily 12-step based and provides great exposure to the AA philosophy as well.