HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Elizabeth A. Goetz, a rising second-year medical student at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, was selected for the Summer Institute for Medical Students (SIMS), an addiction education program presented by the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation in Center City, Minnesota.

The weeklong intensive program at one of the nation’s premier addiction treatment centers allows selected medical students to participate in patient interaction and small group therapy, along with special presentations from the clinical team and discussions with other medical students. By shadowing addiction treatment patients and family program participants, SIMS provides an inside look at the dynamics of addiction and the process of healing.

“I was born and raised in Huntington, West Virginia, and then went to Dayton, Ohio, for my undergraduate studies,” Goetz said. “Both places have been called ‘epicenters’ for the opioid epidemic, which is why this topic is so important to me. I don’t want to just hear about addiction, I want to gain the experience and perspective needed to provide a high-level of care for my future patients.”

Goetz is currently considering a career in primary care so that she can support her patients’ physical and mental health as well as healing for the entire family as an individual battles addiction, Goetz said.

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Date Posted: Wednesday, May 19, 2021