IDAA Baltimore CME

I am really enjoying the CME at this conference.  Dr. Maureen Murphy-Ryan presented the latest research on increased risk addiction has for women.  She described the tendency for co morbid psychiatric disorders especially PTSD.  She described recent studies including perinatal findings with addiction.  The good news was the hope in recovery. Women did well in AA.  She described also recent meication research such as naltrexone. 

I see women paitents with addiction and in recovery and stress the medical concerns and offer treatment centre referrals, contact with AA/NA and Smart. In addition at UBC we have an excellent perinatal program which will take over psychiatric care of the patient during the pregnancy and return them to my care some months after the delivery.  

Mel Pohl MD presntation on complex conditions which don’t have a clear medical diagnosis such as pain disorders and interstituion bladder issues. V Given that I have a number of patients who have so called psychosomatic disorder I was very interested in Mel’s recommendations . I enjoyed Mel’s emphasis on compassion but also his willingness to educate people that a third MRI isn’t as valuable as considering psychological factors.  Adverse Childhood Events research was especially relevant  when attempting to address these problems.  Addressing these conditions helps to prevent relapses in addiction medicine as well.  Beware of reacting to the ‘so you’re saying it’s all in my head’ scenario because too often these patients, Mel said, have been discounted. He emphasized the importance of listening. He described childhood trauma and the need for ‘safety’ to heal. Pain Reprocessing Therapy’s successes were especially interesting to me. 






Tommie Lauer did a presentation and group participation in addressing diversity in clinical settings.  She emphasized the need for open mindedness and used a set of questions that the FAA use to sort out those who would be safest to pilot a plane. These same questions and  balanced approach were relevant to the clinical setting as well,  Unfortunately I arrived late for this one and everyone was already working with pen and paper addressing diversity issues as they arise.  

As usual the greatest value of these conferences is the conversations over coffee between sessions.   Not only am I getting insights into self care I’ve been able to discuss difficult cases that have arisen in my practice. I also hope I’ve been able to help some younger clinicians.