A program at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York employs addiction treatment clients to educate residents at Montefiore Medical Center about alcohol and other drug problems, the New York Times reported April 2.

"I know you all know about drugs through the books, but we're here to tell you the real deal from the street." explained Marlana Reed, 48, a member of the Peer Educators project. Three pairs of methadone patients help teach the young doctors about drugs like heroin and crack.

"In med school, we get the chemical mechanisms of what drugs do to the body and how to treat it," said medical intern Svetlana Korenfeld. "You can read about drug abuse, but if you've never seen it the way it really is, you won't recognize it." 

"Learning factual information from someone who is an expert on their own disease would be something that [doctors] will remember for a long time," said Richard Saitz, the president of the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse. 

Users have provided doctors insight into some of the less obvious physical problems associated with drug use, such as burns and cuts on the hands and mouths of crack users -- the result of handling hot pipes. Reed also told the interns that they should be nonjudgmental with addicts and encourage them to get help, since many will not ask.

"It makes me feel good to know something they don't," Reed said. "Today, that is my high."