Substance abuse-specific knowledge transfer or loss? Treatment program turnover versus professional turnover among substance abuse clinicians.

This longitudinal study investigated the extent to which substance abuse (SA) clinician turnover is associated with SA-specific knowledge loss due to change in professions (professional turnover) versus SA-specific knowledge transfer due to movement from one SA clinical setting to another (treatment program turnover). For this study, clinicians had to have voluntarily left their current treatment program. Eligible clinicians completed a quantitative survey while employed and a qualitative post-employment exit interview 1 year later. Compared to those that exited the SA profession (n = 99), clinicians who changed treatment programs (n = 120) had greater SA-specific formal knowledge and were more likely to be personally in recovery. No differences were found between the two groups in terms of SA-specific practical knowledge.