Half of high school students currently use addictive substances. One in eight high school students have a diagnosable clinical substance use disorder involving nicotine, alcohol or other drugs. Only six to eight percent of the total number of patients in need of treatment receive care. Adolescent and Child Psychiatry Chief Resident Jennifer Segura found herself drawn to working with this population, but wanted to better understand the demands and rewards from the perspectives of clinicians and patients before committing to this field. As a way to do so, Dr. Segura decided to focus her documentary project on the stories of six individuals: four care-givers working in Duke’s Adolescent Intensive Outpatient Program (AIOP) and one mother and son, who received services there. Featured here is an excerpt of clinician Elise Alexander’s story. To view all the stories, visit Dr. Segura’s website: http://aiopduke.wordpress.com/.

In the talk below, Dr. Jennifer Segura shares this work with Duke Medical Students.