Journal of Alcoholism & Drug Dependence
Open Access
ISSN: 2329-6488
+44 1223 790975
ISSN: 2329-6488
+44 1223 790975
Richard Frances
Clinical Professor in New York, USA
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Alcohol Drug Depend
Background and objectives: This article describes the early history and the founding in 1985 of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP), which was originally named the American Academy of Psychiatrists in Alcoholism and Addictions (AAPAA). The early goals and objectives of the AAAP, its early milestone achievements, and the ways AAAP was differentiated from what later became the American Society for Addiction Medicine (ASAM) are also discussed. Conclusions: AAAP has played an important leadership role in improving education, treatment, research, and public policy in addiction psychiatry. Among its early accomplishments are a prominent role in the founding of a Council on Addiction Psychiatry (CAP) in the American Psychiatric Association, and an American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology Added Qualifications in Addiction Psychiatry. AAAP’s national meetings for continuing education in addiction psychiatry, AAAP’s role in furthering medical student, resident and fellowship development and training in addiction psychiatry, and an influential role in public policy were other important contributions.
Richard Frances MD is an Adjunct Clinical Professor at UMDNJ, Rutgers Medical School, he is in private practice, and Senior Medical Adviser and Emeritus President and Medical Director of Silver Hill Hospital, Board certified in Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, and he is licensed in New York and Connecticut. A Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a Fellow of the American College of Psychiatrists, and elected to the Benjamin Rush Society, he was founder and first president of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, a cofounder and an associated editor of the American Journal on Addictions, on editorial boards of peer reviewed journals, co-authored the first Addiction Psychiatry Board Examination, chaired the Council of Addiction Psychiatry (APA,) and author and editor (200 articles, chapters, and 35 textbooks). He ran a U.S. Navy Alcohol Treatment Center, was Associate Professor at Cornell Medical School, and Professor /Vice Chairman, Psychiatry /New Jersey Medical School, Chairman/ Hackensack University Medical Center, and did disabilities evaluations for the NFL, guested on Court TV, and consulted on the DSM IV.