By: Farah Zaidi, MD, 2024 State of the Art Conference Committee Chair

On behalf of the California Society of Addiction Medicine (CSAM), I am excited to share some of the early planning highlights of the 2024 CSAM State of the Arts (SOA) Conference in August 2024, taking place in the beautiful city of San Francisco at the spectacular venue Hyatt Regency San Francisco.

I would like to begin by honoring and acknowledging the original people of this vibrant city: We are on the ancestral homeland of Ramaytush Ohlone peoples who are the original inhabitants of the San Francisco Peninsula. We wish to pay our respect to the Ancestors, Elders and Relatives of the Ramaytush Community as the first people of this land. We recognize that we benefit from living and working on their traditional homeland.

San Francisco Bay Area is the hub of innovation, technology, education, research, science, arts, cultural diversity and so much more. The Bay Area is also home to many prestigious Universities, as well as top notch Residency and Fellowship training programs of almost all specialties.

The theme of the 2024 SOA Conference is “Social and Commercial Determinants of Health (SDoH & CDoH)”. While there is increased awareness of SDoH, the understanding about the CDoH appears to be in its infancy and is evolving. The 2023 Lancet series on CDoH, defines CDoH as “the systems, practices, and pathways through which commercial actors drive health and equity.” Tobacco, alcohol, processed/ultra-processed foods and drinks, gaming and gambling are some of the well-known examples of CDoH with significant harmful impacts on public health.

Our expert faculty will highlight the trends, advances, and innovations in the treatment of addictions, as well as the intersectionality of social and commercial determinants with addictions, focusing on the impact of vulnerable and already marginalized communities at disproportionally high rates.

In addition to covering the State of the Art in treatment and research of the most prevalent of substance use disorders, we plan to explore the relationships of climate change and substance use disorders, the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in addictions treatment, the link between spirituality in trauma care and recovery, and specific treatment considerations in special populations including the Maternal-Fetal dyad, LGBTQ, Children & Adolescent and Geriatrics.

Our popular Board Exam Preparation Track will be offered again to those who are preparing for the American Board of Preventive Medicine, Addiction Medicine Subspecialty Board Exam in 2024. Our other Wednesday Pre-conference workshops will focus on psychedelics, the state of the art in opioid use disorder treatment, addressing our child and adolescent populations, while MERF (Medical Education Research Foundation) will offer its popular MI (Motivational Interviewing) workshop on Wednesday as well.

And last but not the least, MERF scholars and conference attendees will have an opportunity to share their research and other projects through multiple Poster Sessions over the course of conference.

In short, whether you are a late, mid or early career physician, a physician in training, a medical student, an associate member (i.e., advanced practice provider, therapist, medical assistant), a returning or a novice CSAM conference attendee, the CSAM 2024 SOA Conference promises to offer you a perfect blend of learning, networking, relaxing and sightseeing in San Francisco, one of the top tourist destinations of the United States.

Happy Holidays,

-Farah Zaidi, MD