ASAM's Founder: Biographic Information about Ruth Fox, founder of the American Society of Addcition Medicine in 1954. [Biographical information about Ruth Fox]

Time Lines of ASAM's History:

• [Timelines of ASAM's History]
• [Highlights of ASAM's History]
• [Chronology of ASAM's History]
• Special Topic Timelines

Annual Meetings and Presidents of ASAM: Chart listing the places, dates and presidents of the ASAM annual meetings [ASAM Presidents] [ASAM Annual Meeting]

ASAM Members: ASAM members are physicians from all medical specialties and subspecialties. They are engaged in private practice, serve as corporate medical directors, and work in group practice or other clinical settings. A number are also involved in research and medical education.

ASAM's Roots: ASAM has its roots in research and clinical traditions that pre-date its founding in the early 1950's, when Ruth Fox, M.D. began regular meetings with other physicians interested in alcoholism and its treatment at the New York Academy of Medicine. In 1954 these physicians established the New York City Medical Society on Alcoholism with Dr. Fox as its first President. As the organization grew, it was subsequently named the American Medical Society on Alcoholism (AMSA).

Interest in addiction medicine grew with the establishment of the NIDA/NIAAA Career Teacher Program for medical school faculty (1970) and the creation of the California Society for the Treatment of Alcoholism and Other Drug Dependencies as the California specialty society for physicians devoting significant time to treatment of chemically dependent patients. In 1982 the American Academy of Addictionology was incorporated and began efforts to achieve recognition for this new specialty within medicine. In April 1983 a single national organization was formed of these groups uniting within AMSA.

ASAM was admitted to the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates as a voting member in June 1988, and in June 1990 the AMA added addiction medicine (ADM) to its list of designated specialties.

In 1989, to reflect the Society's concern with all drugs of addiction as well as its interest in establishing addiction medicine as part of mainstream medicine, the organization was renamed the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM).

Corporate Names: The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) has had three previous corporate names:

• The New York City Medical Society on Alcoholism (1954-1967).
• The American Medical Society on Alcoholism (1967-1973 and 1983). (From 1973 to 1983 the Society affiliated with the National Council on Alcoholism, where it served in a medical advisory capacity)
• The American Medical Society on Alcoholism and Other Drug Dependencies (1983-1989).

ASAM Certification History:  In 1985, as part of its medical education mission, ASAM announced the certification project and began the development of a credentialing process and a certifying examination to be administered at the national level. The first examination in October, 1986 was the result of a process which had been started by the California Society of Addiction Medicine (CSAM). In 1981, CSAM developed a consensus on how to identify a physician recognized for expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of alcoholism and other drug dependencies. Next came the identification of a core body of knowledge and subsequent development of questions that would test the mastery thereof.

A pool of questions was formed starting with selected items from alcoholism and substance abuse modules prepared by the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) and items developed by career Teachers. CSAM refined and updated those questions, added new items to the pool and then gave the exam in 1983 and 1984 to about 200 physicians.

In 1985, the item pool was taken over by ASAM. New items were developed for ASAM in order to cover all required topic areas. The ASAM Examination Committee subjected this pool of questions to a series of refinements, with technical assistance from consultants such as the Department of Psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Nevada School of Medicine, the Department of Medical Education at University of Southern California School of medicine and the National Board of Medical Examiners. Each item was edited, tested for validity, and field tested on both naive and expert groups. After analyzing those results, some questions were deleted and others changed. From the questions which remained, an examination was drawn with topics balanced for proportional emphasis on alcohol and other drugs, and basic science and clinical areas. New questions are added to the pool each year, old questions are retired and each question is subjected to the same rigorous process during each test cycle.

This examination is a test of knowledge. While it does not certify clinical skill or competence, it does identify a physician who has demonstrated the degree of knowledge in the diagnosis and treatment of alcoholism and drug dependencies commensurate with expertise in the field as defined by ASAM. The examination is not a Board examination. ASAM is not a member of the Board of American Board of Medical Specialties, and ASAM Certification does not confer board Certification.

The ASAM board has established that ASAM recertification is required after 10 years in order for certification to remain valid. access to and improve the quality of addiction treatment.