RECOVERING ADDICTS HELP EDUCATE FUTURE DOCTORS

Jillian Polizs, a second-year medical student at the Weill Medical College
of Cornell University, admits that she had little if any experience with
substance abuse. Raised in a suburb of Denver, she learned about drugs from
popular culture.

"I thought the only people who got addicted were those who were wealthy
with nothing to do or the urban poor," said Ms. Polis, 23. "I got those
images from movies like 'Traffic' since there was little or no addiction
that I knew of growing up.' "

Jonathan Austrian, Ms. Polis's classmate at Cornell, said that he thought
people used drugs simply to have a good time, and that he didn't know
anyone who had been addicted.

"My only experience with drugs and alcohol was in the party setting," said
Mr. Austrian, 24, who grew up in Baltimore and attended the University of
Pennsylvania. "Coming from the middle-class college scene, people took
drugs to enhance the party experience; they were for a good time."

Both of these students, who now admit to being naive, got an eye-opening
look at addiction this fall, during a field trip to Phoenix House, a drug
treatment center in Queens. These students and several others took part in
an informal but intense session in which the medical students and some
residents of Phoenix House engaged in a morning of free-flowing discussion.

This monthly session, part of a class called "Medicines, Patients and
Society," is designed to help students better understand addiction and
develop empathy for the addicted patients they will inevitably face once
they begin practicing medicine.

"Medical students often have misconceptions about people who are addicted
or in recovery," said Dr. Terry Horton, medical director of the program,
which began eight years ago. "Students and interns often only see addicts
as the guy in the E.R. who ripped out his IV or the street person who is
uncooperative. But in an urban setting, an estimated one-third of patients
are going to be addicted. A medical student who becomes a physician in the
community who hasn't learned that addiction is a brain disease is not going
to be effective."

In a recent discussion with medical students, Roy Jackson, who has been a
resident at Phoenix House for 18 months, described the harrowing years of
physical and sexual abuse that he said led to drug use at age 16. He became
addicted to heroin, attempted suicide twice and was arrested for selling crack.

"I'll be getting out soon, and I'm scared," said Mr. Jackson, 36. "I'm
scared of getting high again. I used drugs to cover up the feelings that I
had that no one loved me. I have to fight the urges and stay away from
people and place and things, so I can stay on my recovery."

After hearing Mr. Jackson's story and those of others, Ms. Polis said
experience helped her see those addicted to drugs as real people. "What I
heard were people who were using drugs to make the suffering go away, to
get lost in the world of drugs," she said. "This experience will stick with
me for a long time."

Keisha Badger, 32, tearfully told the medical students that she, too,
started using drugs as a way to numb the pain brought on by sexual abuse.
She started smoking crack when she was 16. After the session, she said she
shared her story with the students because she wanted to change doctors'
attitudes about addicts.

"It's important for them to know who we are, that we are more than just the
drugs," said Ms. Badger, who has been at Phoenix House for 13 months. "I
want to be clean. I don't want to use anymore. I am not just a crackhead."

Jana Dickson, 29, a fourth-year student at Meharry Medical College in
Nashville, visited Phoenix House in September on a scholarship to study
substance abuse in New York. She admitted to the group of residents that
she felt uncomfortable asking about substance abuse during intake
interviews with patients. "Could you give us some feedback about the best
way to ask about drug use?" she asked the group.

"You have to ask the question honestly," said Darone Green, 43, who is
recovering from crack addiction. "But you also have to understand that you
might not get an answer, or you might get a totally different answer an
hour later. As an addict, I may not be in a clear state to understand your
question. Or your question may be totally irrelevant to me because I am
trying to figure out how to get the next hit. I've been an addict for 29
years, and there is a lot of shame, denial and guilt in the lifestyle, so I
might lie to you."

Ms. Dickson said the session helped further her understanding of addiction.

"The residents described how out of their minds they were, how precious the
drugs were, how nothing else mattered," she said. "That was important for
me to hear. Before, if a patient wouldn't talk to me, I took it personally.
Now I see it's not about me, it's about the drugs. In order to help someone
who is addicted, I have to be vigilant about finding out what they are using."

Mr. Austrian said his morning at Phoenix House changed the way he thought
about addiction and substance abusers.

"I volunteered in the E.R., and I saw drunks who came in who were
unmanageable and unruly, out of control," he said. "My initial instinct was
that this is their own fault and people like this create long lines and
prevent other patients from receiving care. But after hearing the stories,
I am much more empathetic because I understand how fragile these people
are, even those in recovery. One false step, one taste of crack, they could
be thrust back into the depths of their hell. This was a powerful lesson.