EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF A CLINICAL-TRAINING PROGRAM IN THE ADDICTIONS

This research examined students who were enrolled in a specialized add iction treatment training program to evaluate the impact of this year- long internship experience on their professional lives. Achieving an 8 7.5% survey completion rate, the vast majority of program graduates as sessed the overall training program and its component activities very positively. The topics and activities associated with ''drug dependenc e'' were evaluated more positively than the training events associated with pathological gambling. Furthermore, the majority of program grad uates obtained jobs in the addiction field. As a result of the trainin g program, approximately 74.5% of respondents stated chat they had cha nged their beliefs about addiction. In addition, many respondents comm ented that their participation in the program changed their stereotype s of people with addiction. The findings provide suggestions and guida nce for other clinical training programs that can gain from the experi ences of fellows who studied at the Norman E. Zinberg Center for Addic tion Studies.