Addiction medicine deals with patients suffering from a wide variety of addiction problems. It aims to free people from their addictions while providing support, counseling, and mental health services. Medical professionals who work in addiction medicine can help patients work through the detoxification process as well as provide harm reduction tactics and rehabilitation services. They may also treat conditions like hepatitis and HIV, which are related to addiction issues. This type of medicine is often associated with public health.

The subspecialty of interventional pain management aims to help patients who are suffering from all types of pain by using invasive interventions. This may include anything from nerve blocks to implantable drug delivery systems to spinal cord stimulation. This kind of treatment is often helpful for patients who have long-lasting pain that cannot be easily managed with medication or other means of pain management. Therefore, these treatments are usually reserved for those with serious pain problems.