Biography
Dr. Carrejo received a B.S. in Biology (1997) from the University of New Mexico. She earned her Doctor of Medicine degree (2004) from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. Following her MD degreee, Dr. Carrejo completed a 3-year residency in Family Medicine at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center. She is board certified in Family Medicine (2007) and in Addiction Medicine (2010).
Personal Statement
Primary care is my passion, and integrating addiction treatment into primary care is a particular interest. My love for primary care stems from the fact that a person's health begins with the platform of primary care and prevention. In New Mexico, substance use disorders are an underlying condition for most of our population's morbidity and mortality. In primary care, we can teach to prevent, screen for and treat substance abuse without specific specialty training and we can save lives by doing so.
I also have a special interest in doing national work with the American Academy of Family Physicians and American College of Academic Addiction Medicine.
Areas of Specialty
Family Medicine
Addiction Medicine
Certifications
May 2018 Award Degree of Fellow for American Academy of Family Physicians April 2017 Re-certified Family Medicine, Certificate No. 1066453360 December 2010 Board Certified in Addiction Medicine, Certificate No. 2010090 December 2007 Board Certified in Family Medicine
Achievements & Awards
NMAFP Alternate Delegate to the AAFP Congress of Delegates, 2020-present
American ?College of Academic Addiction Medicine Board of Directors, 2019- present
NMAFP Board Chair, 2019-2020, ?2021-2022, 2024-2025
NMAFP Chapter President, 2018-2019
NMAFP Family Physician of the Year, 2018
Outstanding Family Medicine MCH Attending, 2015-2016
Elected Board member for UNM SOM Alumni Association, 2016-2021
UNM Medical Education Scholars Program, August 2013 - June 2015
National Health Service Corp Loan Repayment Program, Sept 2009 - Sept 2012
Member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, June 2004 - present
New Mexico Health Service Corp member, August 2007 - June 2009
Outstanding Attending at the University of New Mexico Family Medicine Residency Program, 2007-2008
Key Publications
Journal Article
Watkins, Katherine, E. Weir, Rebecca, Pak, Lia, Griffin, Beth, Ann Griffo, Amber, Sutherland, Allison, Trosclair McCullough, Colleen, M. Meredith, Lisa, S. Schoenbaum, Michael, Komaromy, Miriam, Carrejo, Valerie, Osilla, Karen, Chan 2024 Collaborative Care Model for Patients With Opioid Use Disorder and Mental Illness JAMA Network Open, vol. 7, Issue 11, e2449012 https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.49012
Gender
Female
Languages
- English
Courses Taught
The ACGME Accredited Addiction Medicine curriculum was designed by myself and Dr. Leah Nelson in 2018. We were one of the first accredited fellowship programs in the U.S. and we are the first and only Addiction Medicine fellowship in New Mexico.
Research and Scholarship
Most scholarly activity is teaching with a special interest is teaching about integrating addiction treatment into primary care. I am an invited speaker to local, state and national conferences for this topic.
Hettema, J.E., Cockrell, S.A., Reeves, A., Ingersoll, K.S., Lum, P.J., Satiz, R., Murray-Krezan, C.M., Carrejo, V.A. “Development and Differentiability of Three Brief Interventions for Risky Alcohol Use that Include Varying Doses of Motivational Interviewing”. Addiction Science and Clinical Practice 2018, 13:6.
Reta, A., Nelson, L., Rose, R., Carrejo, V., & Bhatt, S. (2021). Impact of COVID-19 on New Mexico Harm Reduction Services: Challenges and Recommendations. 05 January 2021, PREPRINT (Version 1) available at Research Square https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-139091/v1
Watkins,K., Weir,R., Pak, L., Griffin, B., Griffo, A., Sutherland, A., McCullough, C., Meredith, L., Schoenbaum, M., Komaromy, M., Carrejo, V., Osilla, K., Collaborative Care Model for Patients With Opioid Use Disorder and Mental Illness. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(11):e2449012. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.49012
Christensen, J., Hindmarch, G., Cueto, L., Rabinowitz, M., Carrejo, V., Jeansonne, S., Bettler, J., Williams, S., Komaromy, M., Watkins, K. E., & Osilla, K. C. (2024). Provider Experiences Delivering Collaborative Care for Co-Occurring Opioid Use and Mental Health Disorders: A Qualitative Study. Family Practice. Volume 42, Issue 2, April 2025, cmaf007, https://doi.org/10.1093/fampra/cmaf007