Julie W. Childers, MD, FAAHPM, FASAM

Julie W. Childers, MD, FAAHPM, FASAM, is the Program Director of the ACGME-accredited DGIM Addiction Medicine Fellowship, which she helped develop. She teaches at the medical student, resident, fellow, and faculty level and has developed and directed courses in end of life communication, motivational interviewing, and communicating about opioid prescribing. She is a Distinguished Faculty member for VitalTalk and trains new communication teachers locally and nationally. In 2021, Dr. Childers was elected to the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Academy of Distinguished Medical Educators.

 Her clinical practice focuses on the intersection of Addiction Medicine and Palliative Care. She attends on both the inpatient addiction medicine consult service and the palliative medicine consult service at Presbyterian Hospital. She also practices outpatient addiction medicine and palliative medicine at the Internal Medicine Recovery Engagement Program (IM-REP), located at Mercy. Dr. Childers’ research interests are in teaching communication, including discussions about prescribing high-risk medications such as opioids, medical ethics, and managing addiction in patients with serious illness.