Pediatric Substance Use Disorder Education Program

As a physician affiliated with a select group of hospitals in New York, you are invited to participate in Caron’s Pediatric Substance Use Disorder Education Program. The program will provide you with specialized training you can integrate into your daily practice. It is structured using a combination of online courses, which you can complete based on your schedule, and a choice of five dates for a virtual live workshop. The content of the program is streamlined, evidence-informed and delivered by a team of expert physicians who specialize in the field.

During the program participants will complete online courses and one virtual live workshop.

Online Courses:

• C-SBIRT -Caron’s Training for Healthcare Professionals on Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment - Digital Course
• The Impact of Substance Use Disorders on the Family: Hope for Recovery - Digital Course
• Vaping and Marijuana: Tools and Insight - Digital Course
• Addiction as a Disease – Lecture presented by Caron’s Chief Medical Director
• Medically Assisted Treatment – Lecture presented by Caron’s Chief Medical Director Lecture

Live Virtual Workshop Topics:

• Exploring Attitudes and Cultivating Empathy
• Practical Substance Use Disorder Approaches to Screening, Intervention, Referral, Treatment and Recovery Support
• Motivational Interviewing in Practice
• Discussion with parents, alumni, and mutual support group members
• Additional resources and support for on-going learning

The combination of these courses will address the following topics:

• Integrating substance use disorder approaches into daily practice, including screenings into routine medical assessments
• Understanding the causes of substance use disorders
• Exploring the role of pediatricians in substance use prevention, screenings, intervention, referral to treatment, and recovery
• Recognizing that substance use disorders are a family disease that require support for everyone
• Identifying one’s own attitudes that promote or prevent therapeutic responses to patients with substance use disorders
• Gaining the skills needed to utilize motivational interviewing techniques to enhance patient’s readiness to change
• Recognizing frequently abused substances among teens
• Understanding the relationship between mental illness and substance use disorders
• Referring patients to appropriate care, including mutual support groups that support recovery

Completion Requirements:

• Participants will register online and select a workshop date
• Completion of the Digital Learning curriculum in advance of the Live Workshop
• Completion of an online pre-test and post-test
• Attendance at an approximately 3.5 hour live virtual workshop
• An evaluation of the program will be requested

Caron will provide:

• High quality content delivered in a variety of interactive virtual approaches
• Engaging and experienced faculty
• Guest speakers to share their experience, strength, and hope
• A Caron certificate of completion

The program is facilitated by two highly-trained professionals who are experts in their field:

Dr. Timothy Sasala, DO is a pediatrics specialist in New York, City and has been practicing for 16 years. He graduated from Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1997 and specializes in pediatrics.

Dr. Sasala completed his residency training at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in D.C. For 8 years, Dr. Sasala worked as a physician and active duty officer in the U.S. Army. He worked at the Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and at a U.S. Army hospital in Germany, where he was the chief of pediatrics and oversaw the care of 15,000 children of military personnel.

After leaving the military, Dr. Sasala returned to New York and spent a year working at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center before entering private practice. He is the owner of Metropolitan Pediatrics.

Dr. Alexandra Stratyner, PHD is a Manhattan-based psychologist. She specializes in the treatment of substance use and co-occurring disorders with expertise in motivational interviewing techniques.

Dr. Stratyner received her Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Seton Hall University in New Jersey and completed her internship in clinical psychology at Mt. Sinai St. Luke’s and Mt. Sinai West Hospitals in New York. Dr. Stratyner is on the faculty of the Mount Sinai Health System and is an adjunct faculty member at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. She is a frequent guest on local and national news programs and has authored multiple studies and presented her research at multiple conferences, including the American Psychological Association. She was recently published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Psychiatric Practice on the topic of complex PTSD. Dr. Stratyner is also an elected member of the New York State Psychological Association’s (NYSPA) voting council and executive board, and the co-chair of NYSPA’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee, and was the recipient of NYSPA’s 2020 Early Career Psychologist Award.