Masters in Addiction Science

Addresses foundational concepts ad skills for conducting and applying addiction science.  Examines the facets of addiction and apply these themes to the study of specific classes of substance and nonsubstance addiction.

Modern perspectives; discovery and use of legal and illicit drugs including alcohol and opioids. How drugs have helped, shaped, modified or changed individuals and society.

Examination of factors related to drug abuse behaviors; overview and assessment of drug abuse prevention and cessation programs; relapse prevention programs.

Introduction into the complex area of treatment with opioids and other pharmacological options.

Explores opioid therapeutics including proper use, dosing, side effects and its management, use in special populations, and legal/ethical considerations for prescribers and dispensers.

Overview of behavioral theory and research in disease prevention and health promotion and in adaptation of chronic disease, including an introduction to measures of outcomes.

Concepts of biostatistics; appropriate uses and common misuses of health statistics; practice in the application of statistical procedures; introduction to statistical software including EXCEL, SPSS, nQuery.

Major parametric and nonparametric statistical tools used in biomedical research, computer packages including SAS. Includes laboratory.

Statistical methods for analysis of categorical data including dichotomous, ordinal, multinomial and count data, using Stata package. Includes laboratory.

Terminology/uses of epidemiology and demography; sources/uses of population data; types of epidemiologic studies; risk assessment; common sources of bias in population studies; principles of screening.

Overview of behavioral theory and research in disease prevention and health promotion and in adaptation of chronic disease, including an introduction to measures of outcomes.

Examination of major policy issues in the U.S. health care delivery system to understand policy options in reforming health care and reducing health care disparities.

Introduction to common uses of qualitative research methods in public health research and application. Methods include ethnography, participant observation, open-ended interviewing, and focus groups.

Social, environmental, and physiological influences on behaviors associated with aggression, eating, reproduction, and sleep. Will focus on behavioral disorders such as addiction.

Neurological basis of addiction to drugs of abuse including alcohol, marijuana, opioids and sugar, focusing on neuropharmacology and challenges of current and future therapies.

Ethical and moral issues have arisen from responsibilities within different fields of pharmaceutical practice. Exploration of the broad solutions those responsibilities have presented.

Assessment of mental disorders, and the rationale and organization of the system for diagnosis. Emphasis is on developing differential diagnostic skills.

Causal exploration of substance related and behavioral addictive disorders. Evidence-based and practice informed treatment models for vulnerable individuals, groups and families.

Focus on the multi-level impact of mental illness on adults and families. Evidence-based interventions promoting increased quality of life and stability are emphasized.

Assessing and promoting wellness and recovery, interacting systems of mind, brain, and body. Evidence-based integrated care interventions in a new era of health care reform.

Social work processes and skills required for the implementation of short-term interventions in medical, behavioral health and integrated care settings with individuals, families and groups.

Introduction to advanced practice concepts essential to understanding engagement, assessment and diagnosis with complex social work cases from a meta-framework perspective.

General Track: ADSC 594a (2 units)
Research Track: ADSC 594a (2 units) and ADSC 594b (2 units)
Clinical Track: ADSC 594a (2 units) and ADSC 594b (2 units)

Individual research, reading, writing and project development.

Research leading to the master’s degree. Maximum units which may be applied to the degree to be determined by the department. Graded CR/NC.

This course introduces students to research in the addiction sciences including each phase of the research process through directed readings, lectures, and practical application of how to conduct a scientific research project.

This course builds upon the foundational and theoretical concepts in ADSC505a by providing the opportunity to apply that learning directly through the development and execution of an independent research project.

Introduces students to issues related to evidence-based approaches to substance abuse interventions in the context of the organizations in which they are commonly delivered.

Causal exploration of substance related and behavioral addictive disorders. Evidence-based and practice informed treatment models for vulnerable individuals, groups and families.

Introduces research in addiction sciences through directed readings, live lectures and development of an independent research project.