Organizational Profile

The Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse (AMERSA) was founded in 1976 by members of the Career Teachers Program, a multidisciplinary health professional faculty development program supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. AMERSA has since grown to over 300 members representing physicians of several specialties (MD and DO), nurses, social workers, psychologists, pharmacologists, dentists, and other professionals. AMERSA prides itself on its multidisciplinary and multispecialty membership, and its members benefit from the diversity of perspectives.

AMERSA members have been responsible for many important advances in substance abuse education and research. AMERSA members have developed, implemented, and evaluated state-of-the-art curricula, educational programs, and faculty development programs. Our members have developed clinical and research measures for substance abuse services and professional education. They are actively engaged in research related to substance abuse education, clinical service, and prevention.

Each year in early November, the AMERSA National Conference draws health care professionals from across the US and other countries to share new developments in substance abuse education, treatment, prevention, and research. The Conference is unique in that it fosters collaboration of health professionals from diverse disciplines, backgrounds, and professional environments. The conference is remarkable for its congenial and supportive atmosphere and its ability to attract presenters with national and international reputations.

AMERSA publishes Substance Abuse, a peer-reviewed, quarterly journal which emphasizes research on health care professional education but also includes original clinical and prevention research. The journal publishes timely editorials and book reviews, as well as abstracts from the AMERSA National Conference. Substance Abuse is distributed free to all AMERSA members.

AMERSA is the sole national organization with a major focus on health professional faculty development in substance abuse. With the support of a five-year cooperative agreement with the US Health Resources and Services Administration, AMERSA is undertaking two initiatives: developing a strategic planning document to guide the improvement of health professional education on substance abuse, and implementing a national faculty development program. The targeted professionals include allopathic and osteopathic physicians (particularly family physicians, general internists, and general pediatricians), chiropractors, dentists, nurses, nurse midwives, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, physician assistants, psychologists, public health professionals, social workers, and other allied health professionals.

For over twenty years, AMERSA's national office was located at the Brown University Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies. AMERSA now has its own national office, located in Providence, Rhode Island.

If you are a health care professional interested in substance abuse education and faculty development, we invite you to join us. AMERSA is where it's happening!