Bill > H1811

This bill proposes to establish an Addiction Residency Training grant program within the Department of Public Health (DPH) to fund a one-year interdisciplinary graduate medical education program for physicians who have completed a core residency in psychiatry, internal medicine, family medicine, or a similar specialty. This program aims to prepare physicians for practice in integrated care settings, such as medical homes or facilities run by the Department of Mental Health (DMH) or DPH, and will include mandatory training in drug courts and other criminal justice diversion programs, community-based rotations in underserved areas, and rotations in public sector settings like DPH, DMH, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The grant will support two physician trainees annually, and graduates who choose to practice in designated underserved areas, such as Western Massachusetts, will be eligible for a loan-forgiveness program to help repay their medical school education expenses, with increasing reimbursement amounts for each year of service in these areas.