Come fall 2015, SDSU and UCSD will be the first to offer a program in substance use and abuse. The schools will launch a Joint Doctoral Program that will focus on researching how people use and abuse drugs and alcohol.
According to María Luisa Zúñiga, JDP co-director and associate professor at SDSU’s School of Social Work, the program will train students to research and identify the risks of substance use. Students will also create intervention programs that will help prevent and improve high-risk behavior of those under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
SDSU Division of Academic Affairs and College Health and Human Services will provide four students full tuition coverage and a teaching associate stipend for up to four years.
“Our graduates will be highly sought after in fields including medicine, social work and public health, as well as research firms and governmental health departments,” she said in a statement.
Not only is this program going to further research in substance use, but students will also be trained on how to recognize certain diseases and how to recommend and promote a healthy lifestyle.
Because substance use is so common, this program could not a have come at a better time, said Steffanie Strathdee, JDP co-director and head of UCSD’s Global Health Initiative.
The program will run under SDSU’s school of social work and UCSD’s school of medicine. Students in the program will spend their first year studying at SDSU and their second at UCSD, which will then be followed by a couple years of working with staff from both campuses.
