OVERVIEW & ELIGIBILITY

New nurse practitioner fellows are accepted into the program from a range of clinical and academic backgrounds. The program runs from July 1 to June 30 (one year). There is some flexibility with the start date and duration to be considered on a case-by-case basis.

We're pleased to offer Fellowship opportunities with focused clinical rotations in the Interior, Vancouver Island (primarily in Victoria), Fraser Health, and the lower mainland of Vancouver. Applicants should indicate their preferred location in their letter of intent, along with a brief summary of why they would be a good fit.

Fellowship Overview

  • The program encourages learning experiences in a variety of settings, including residential recovery, injectable opioid agonist therapy, withdrawal management, inpatient consultation, chronic pain, research, and other placements.
  • The program also supports didactic learning experiences through a two-week academic block, interdisciplinary and stream-specific academic half-days, journal clubs, research and presentation skills development, and clinical skills workshops.
  • There is flexibility in rotations based on experience and individual learning objectives.
  • Each Fellow’s rotations are tailored to learning objectives that are set with the Program Director.
  • A description of some of the key training rotations can be found below.

Eligibility

The BCCSU Addiction Nurse Practitioner Fellowship accepts applications from nurse practitioners who are licensed to practice in BC through the BC College of Nursing Professionals. Applicants who are currently in PhD/DNP programs and/or bring their own funding (i.e., salary reimbursement) will be prioritized.

FELLOWSHIP CORE ROTATIONS

The Addiction Medicine Consultation Team (AMCT) at St. Paul’s Hospital provides interdisciplinary inpatient addiction consultations to the entire hospital, including all medical and surgical wards and the emergency department. Consultations involve addiction treatment coordination for medical comorbidities and opioid agonist therapy initiation, continuation, and monitoring. Inpatient withdrawal management, motivational interviewing, follow-up treatment recommendations, and coordination are also conducted by the AMCT.
Vancouver Detox provides an excellent clinical learning environment for medical withdrawal management and related care. Fellows will provide full assessments and management in this 25-bed inpatient medically supervised withdrawal management unit, and will be exposed to the full spectrum of inpatient medical withdrawal management patient care. A Daytox program for outpatient medical withdrawal management and early treatment, located in the same facility, is also part of this rotation.
Home base for this rotation is the Heartwood Centre for Women, a tertiary, provincial 28-bed residential addiction treatment facility for cisgender and transgender women. Fellows will be involved with the full spectrum of treatment, from withdrawal management to group therapy. There will also be some exposure to Fir Square Combined Care Unit, an inpatient stabilization and withdrawal management unit at BC Women’s Hospital for care for women using substances and infants exposed to these substances.
The Pain Management Program at the CBI Health Clinic is an intensive outpatient program. Fellows will be responsible for observing and learning about medical assessments—including taking histories and physical examinations using screening instruments —to support an interdisciplinary care team in diagnosis and treatment planning for patients with chronic pain disorders, many of whom also have concurrent substance use disorders. Fellows will learn about opioid rotation, conversion to long-acting opioids, and opioid withdrawal management, and will also become very familiar with the use of antidepressants, anticonvulsants, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and other medication therapies.

The Inner City Youth Mental Health Program is a specialized outpatient service, with a housing component, which primarily deals with street involved and concurrently disordered youth. The program specializes in the assessment and treatment of high-risk youth. The Fellows will assess and treat patients with a psychiatric diagnosis and one or more substance use disorder(s). The focus will be on concurrent disorder practice (i.e., psychotic, somatoform and affective disorders as well as neurocognitive deficits (e.g., Fetal alcohol spectrum) in the context of substance use disorders.

The Inner City Youth Mental Health Program is one component of Foundry, a provincial network of integrated health and social service centres serving youth ages 12-24. Foundry aims to house health and social services within one centre and their philosophy is to engage and empower young people to create a tailored, individualized health and wellness plan.

The Crosstown Clinic offers injectable opioid agonist treatment within a supervised clinical setting for patients with severe, chronic opioid use disorder. A pharmacy operates on-site and the following staff provide services: physicians, nurses, social workers and addictions counsellors. The clinic also provides life-skills counselling, housing referrals and connects clients to legal assistance. 

APPLY

Application Timeline for the 2024-2025 Addiction Nurse Practitioner Fellowship:

    We are still accepting applications for the 24/25 year, please connect with [email protected] and submit your application as soon as possible.


    Application Details

    Interested candidates must submit an electronic copy of the following documentation:

    1. Two letters of reference
    2. A 700-word letter of intent describing:
      • The applicant’s background,
      • The applicant’s preparation for the Fellowship,
      • Why they are interested in a career a career in addiction care, and
      • The ways the applicant imagines their experience as a Fellow will allow them to have impact within the system of addictions treatment and care.
    3. One letter of support should be from the applicant’s manager or supervisor and outline employer/organizational support for the applicant to complete the fellowship program
    4. A curriculum vitae

    Please send an electronic copy of all application materials to [email protected].


    Interviews

    Interviews may be conducted with top candidates from each discipline shortly after the application deadline. Interviews may be in person, on the phone, or via Zoom.


    General Inquiries

    For further information about this Fellowship program, please contact us at [email protected].

FELLOWS

Past Addiction Nurse Practioner Fellows are below.

2022-23

  • KELLY MCINERNEY

2021-22

  • LISA CORSIE

  • TRACEY DAY

2020-21

  • LUKAS HESTVIK
  • PATTY WILSON
  • TIM GAUTHIER

2019-20

  • CAMMIE LEWIS
  • HEATHER TAYLOR
  • JUSTINA DOERKSEN

2018-19

  • SHAUNA ARCHER
  • CLAIRE WILSON

2017-18

  • ZAK MATIESCHYN

2013-14

  • MONICA GREGORY

PROGRAM LEADERSHIP

Tim Gauthier, NP(F), Director, BCCSU Addiction Nurse Practitioner Fellowship

SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS

providence-healthcare-logoSt. Paul’s Hospital at Providence Health Care is an acute care, academic, and research hospital located in downtown Vancouver. With over 500 acute care beds in use and home to many world-leading medical and surgical programs, the hospital serves both the local community and patients from across BC. Its downtown location brings many of Vancouver’s tourists and visitors to its doors. St. Paul’s also has a longstanding history of providing care to disadvantaged populations. For more information about St. Paul’s Hospital, please click here.


logo-webThe BC Centre on Substance Use (BCCSU) is a provincially networked resource with a mandate to develop, implement, and evaluate evidence-based approaches to substance use and addiction. The BCCSU focuses on three strategic areas: research and evaluation, education and training, and clinical care guidance. With the support of the province of British Columbia, the BCCSU hosts the largest interdisciplinary addiction medicine training program in North America, building capacity in the healthcare system in BC to improve access to evidence-based care. Although physically located in Vancouver, the BCCSU is a provincially networked resource for researchers, educators, and care providers, as well as people who use substances, family advocates, support groups, and the recovery community.


ubc-logo-fullThe University of British Columbia (UBC), established in 1908, is one of Canada’s leading research universities, consistently ranked among the top 40 in the world. The university attracts 54,000 students from across Canada and 140 countries around the world to two major campuses. For more information about UBC, please click here.


spf-logoSt. Paul’s Foundation raises funds to support compassionate world-class care, research, and teaching at St. Paul’s Hospital. The BCCSU Addiction Medicine Fellowship is a partnership between St. Paul’s Foundation, St. Paul’s Hospital, the BC Centre on Substance Use, and the UBC Division of AIDS. The program was launched with a $3 million landmark donation to St. Paul’s Foundation, gifted by Goldcorp, Inc. The Foundation continues to secure additional funding to support the program. For more information, or to donate, please click here.


vch-logoVancouver Coastal Health is a regional health authority providing direct and contracted health services including primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary care; home and community care; mental health services; population and preventive health; and addictions services in part of Greater Vancouver and the Coast Garibaldi area. For more information, please click here.

BC Centre on Substance Use

400-1045 Howe St, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2A9


E: [email protected] | T: (778) 945-7616 | F: (604) 428-5183

24/7 Addiction Clinician Support Line: (778) 945-7619

Online Addiction Medicine Diploma: [email protected].


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