Anna-Maria South Named 2021-22 Bell Addiction Medicine Scholar
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 16, 2022) — Anna-Maria South, MD, an assistant professor in the College of Medicine’s Division of Hospital Medicine and an attending physician on the Addiction Consult and Education Services at the University of Kentucky, has been selected as UK’s Bell Addiction Medicine Scholar for 2022. The mission of the Bell Alcohol and Addiction Endowed Chair is to build a broader base of physician education and training experiences in treating patients with substance use disorders at UK HealthCare.
South is interested in substance use disorder treatment among incarcerated patients. During her year as the Bell Addiction Medicine Scholar, South will work to create an interactive lecture series for medical students, residents and attending physicians about the importance of treating opioid use disorder among hospitalized incarcerated persons and ways to facilitate, promote and implement addiction treatment in the hospital setting. Her goal is to empower other providers to learn about medical science so that they too can advocate for appropriate, evidence-based care for this underserved special patient population.
South currently leads the Health Equity and Advocacy Thread for the College of Medicine, which is aimed at enhancing medical student curriculum to increase the focus on social determinants of health and cultural humility. She is passionate about educating students and residents on a stigma-free evidence-based approach to the treatment of patients with substance use disorder. Her clinical interests include health equity and treatment of patients with SUD as well as resident and medical student education.
South was born in Germany and moved to the U.S. at the age of 19. She graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and received her MD from Boonshoft School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at UK and then joined the Division of Hospital Medicine as a hospitalist on both direct care and teaching services. She has been the recipient of numerous medical student teaching awards, as well as awards from her division for patient advocacy and excellence in patient care.
