Alexander P. Zotos, MD, FASAM
Candidate for Regional Director
Region X - Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, Virgin Islands
Alexander P. Zotos, MD, FASAM has been practicing Addiction Medicine for over 15 years in the Chattanooga area. Having worked in both the public and private sector, he brings a great deal of knowledge and experience in the field of Addiction Medicine. Since his medical residency, he has been working at a local treatment center and currently serves as assistant medical director.
He has provided medication assistant treatment with buprenorphine for over 15 years to the community and has helped a multitude of people on their journey through recovery. He is board certified in Addiction Medicine and provides evidence-based treatment for all forms of Addiction. Dr. Zotos is passionate about helping others on their journey and also has been an active member in ASAM having served both at the local, state, and national level.
Dr. Zotos also practices Emergency Medicine and has previously served as medical director for over 8 years in a community that has been ravaged by substance abuse and has been on the front lines. He has experienced how substance abuse has impacted his local community. He additionally provides primary care services to many of his patients and is board certified in Family Medicine.
Candidate Questionnaire Responses
1. What have been your greatest contributions to ASAM or to the field of addiction medicine over the last 10 years?
My greatest contributions to ASAM and the field of addiction medicine is my continued work to build our state chapter to be one of the largest and most engaged groups since TnSAM was formed. After our chapter participation began to dwindle, I worked tirelessly with a fellow officer, Dr. Sumrok to resurrect our chapter. We felt we needed a new direction and began engaging other members and began by having monthly Zoom meetings. We began shortly after the pandemic and have not looked back.
We have drawn an immense amount of participation in our state by engaging our members by meeting via Zoom. We typically have 15-20 members on every call and continue to grow. We now have an additional Legislative meeting bimonthly which engage our members to help bring about change to our state regulations and laws and hope to expand access to treatment for many.
By far the most coveted contribution to our local chapter has been the creation of our interactive and up to date website tnsam.org. With the help of our marketing team and many of our members, we now have a forum and site where we can assist in educating other providers and bring about change and destigmatize addiction. Additionally, the website has been a forum to educate both providers, legislators, and the public. We also plan to expand our site to include networking opportunities and employment opportunities.
Additionally, I am proud to be one of many who helped start a collaborative educational program for all providers in addiction medicine, the Mid-South Addiction Medicine Conference cosponsored by both the Tennessee Society of Addiction Medicine and the Vanderbilt University Department of Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine which will be in its third year. Currently I serve in the planning committee.
2. How would your election to the ASAM Board of Directors benefit ASAM and the field of addiction medicine?
My election as the Region X Director on the Board of Directors would benefit ASAM in many ways. Foremost, having many years of experience in leadership, I would help to encourage others to actively participate in our organization. I have been able to help grow our local chapter and would also serve our region by growing our membership and most importantly our participation in ASAM by engaging others to help our great cause.
I believe in a grass roots approach and encouraging members to work in their local communities to bring about change and education and help to destigmatize the disease of addiction. Additionally, I have always been one to bring people together and try compromising approaches to various issues which may come up. This I have learned over the years in my experiences in leadership as a medical director and on the medical executive committee at our local hospital. My main objective would be to grow our membership and be more inclusive for all health care providers.