We are officially in the countdown phase until we see each other in New Orleans and our 2023 annual conference referred to as Preventive Medicine 2023 (PM 2023). There is such a rich series of sessions and plenaries that I hope you have had a chance to review and prepare to be inspired and to learn. And there is no better time to register than today, with advance registration discounts ending Monday!
Preventive medicine physicians are experts across a wide swath of content areas and issues and work in a variety of settings using the skills, training and expertise to improve population health outcomes. The upcoming conference has something for everyone in the field — addressing bioethical issues, dispelling misinformation and disinformation, and of course, focusing on training that every physician needs to improve the health of patients and populations.
Read on for a teaser of the plenary sessions and presenters to wet your whistle.
- Reproductive Rights — Reproductive rights are under assault in the United States, with restrictions to access for reproductive care in many states. This attack on women is disproportionately affecting women of color and low-income communities. This session will discuss reproductive justice in the context of the current political climate and discuss potential strategies to address the crisis.
- Jamila Perritt, MD, MPH, FACOG, Physicians For Reproductive Rights
- Military Medicine — The military faces a variety of unique environmental exposures that have impacts on the health of service members; however, assessing the relationships between exposure and disease is not always straightforward. This plenary walks attendees through conducting a thorough epidemiologic assessment and analysis to arrive at evidence-based conclusions regarding exposure-disease associations through perspectives from the DoD and VA.
- Michael Brumage, MD, MPH, FACPM, Deputy Chief Consultant, Veterans Health Administration
- Andrew Wiesen, MD, MPH, FACP, FACPM, Editor, Medical Surveillance Monthly Report
- Translating Evidence into Rural Practice: The Role of Community-Academic Partnerships — Rural health is an often-neglected area of healthcare. Physicians and patients face their own sets of unique challenges when working and seeking care in a rural context. Yet without knowing more about these populations, we cannot know how to best address their needs. The first half of this plenary explores the challenges and experiences of preventive medicine physicians practicing in rural locations. The second half of this plenary describes why research in rural areas is important and how it can be implemented.
- Macarena Garcia, DrPH, MPS, MIS, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Joseph Iser, MD, DrPh, MSc, FACPM
- Tonette Krousel-Wood, MD, MSPH, FACPM, Tulane University, President, ACPM
- Vaccine Preventable Diseases: Dispelling Misinformation with Evidence-based Research — The COVID-19 pandemic brought about incredible loss for families, friends, communities and populations within the U.S. and beyond. While COVID-19 vaccines prevented approximately 19.8 million deaths globally, vaccine hesitancy, public mistrust and misinformation have significantly impacted the current state of vaccinations and vaccine preventable diseases today. This plenary will focus on dispelling misinformation with evidence-based research by analyzing effects of the past and proposing priorities for the future.
- Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, Dean for the National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine
- Joseph Kanter, MD, MPH, State Health Officer and Medical Director, Louisiana Department of Health
- Frank Welch, MD, Medical Director, Louisiana Department of Health
- Opioid Epidemic — The opioid epidemic represents a significant public health and clinical challenge. Though recent years saw death rates due to opioids plateau and even decrease, the COVID-19 pandemic also brought a surge in opioid-related deaths and increased it to levels never before seen in the U.S. This plenary explores the historical context leading up to where we are today in the opioid epidemic, the clinical and public health approaches used in combating opioid misuse, the prevention-focused next steps we must take in addressing the opioid epidemic, and the ethical and philosophical underpinnings of the war on drugs and our current approaches to opioid misuse.
- Travis Rieder, PhD, Director of the MBE Program; Associate Research Professor, Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics
- Elizabeth Salisbury-Afshar, MD, MPH, FACPM, DFASAM, FAAFP, University of Wisconsin-Madison
As you prepare your travel plans, organize your schedules, select your wardrobe, and reach out to old friends who you will meet up with in NOLA, don’t forget to pack your business cards! You will meet new people with whom you want to contact afterwards and vice versa.
Truly looking forward to seeing you, meeting new members and learning more from each of you!
See you in NOLA,
Donna
Donna Grande, MGA
ACPM CEO