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| E-News Archives |
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| ( November 13, 2009 ) |
| From the Interim Dean |
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"I have been away this week at the annual meeting of the Association of American Medical Colleges. My column will return next week.” |
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Free Health Screenings Available to Community
UND School of Medicine and National Allies Educate Future Physicians in Fight to Stem Substance Abuse
University Letter
North Dakota Medicine is Going Green
BIMD Seminar Series
PPT Seminar on Nov. 20
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow
Anatomy and Cell Biology Fall Seminar Series
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| Free Health Screenings Available to Community |
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| Event Date(s): Saturday, November 14 |
Event Time: 8:00am - 3:00pm |
| Event Location: Wal-Mart in Grand Forks |
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The University of North Dakota (UND) health professions students will host the annual Health Screening Fair on Saturday, November 14, from 8:00am to 3:00pm at Wal-Mart in Grand Forks. Medical students and nursing students will offer free blood pressure checks and blood glucose tests. Physical therapy students will perform posture and balance assessments, also free of charge. Additionally, lipid panels will be available for $5. Lipid panels include a total cholesterol reading and help determine risk for heart disease. Prior to having a lipid panel drawn, it is recommended to fast for six to eight hours. “This event offers community members the opportunity to learn vital information about their health,” says Elizabeth Blixt, president of the UND American Medical Student Association. “Students are eager to interact with community members and provide a beneficial service.” Screening of blood pressure, blood glucose, lipids and posture and balance can serve as a valuable tool. High blood pressure usually presents no symptoms, yet can cause significant cardiovascular problems. Blood glucose tests can screen for diabetes. Posture adjustments can help improve overall quality of life. The Health Screening Fair is organized by the American Medical Student Association and made possible by support of students, faculty and staff at the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences and UND College of Nursing. |
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| UND School of Medicine and National Allies Educate Future Physicians in Fight to Stem Substance Abuse |
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The rigors of medical training sharpen a doctor's ability to diagnose and treat a wide variety of human afflictions. However, drug abuse and addiction are often insufficiently covered in medical school curricula, despite the fact that drug use affects a wide range of health conditions and drug abuse and addiction are themselves major public health issues. To improve drug abuse and addiction training of future physicians, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, today unveiled a series of new teaching tools, through its Centers of Excellence for Physician Information Program (NIDA CoEs), at the Association of American Medical Colleges 2009 Annual Meeting's "Innovations in Medical Education" Exhibit in Boston. The NIDA CoE program was created through a partnership with the American Medical Association's medical education research collaborative, Innovative Strategies for Transforming the Education of Physicians and includes The University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, the Harvard Medical School/Cambridge Health Alliance, Creighton University School of Medicine, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Drexel University College of Medicine. "Physicians can be the first line of defense against substance abuse and addiction, but they need the resources and the training," said NIDA Director Dr. Nora D. Volkow. "Our long-term goal is for doctors to incorporate screening for drug use into routine practice like they currently screen for other diseases; to help patients that are abusing to stop; and to refer more serious cases to specialized treatment." For example, several CoE resources address prescription drug abuse among chronic pain patients, which presents special issues for physicians, who must balance adequate treatment with the risks of addiction. "Our goal is to improve the quality of pain treatment and the safety of prescribing opioids by increasing the knowledge and skills of medical providers early in the educational process," emphasized Dr. Jeffrey Baxter of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, developer of one of the CoE resources. By pairing substance abuse expertise with innovations in medical education, these curriculum adjuncts can enhance substance abuse medical education, help to remove the stigma associated with substance abuse, and ultimately improve patient care. The NIDA CoE program is part of NIDAMED — NIDA's ongoing commitment to the medical community to provide scientifically accurate and useful resources for addressing substance abuse in their patients. NIDAMED offers a variety of tools, including an online interactive screening tool to help doctors accurately assess their patient's substance use. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. Submitted by Denis MacLeod |
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| University Letter |
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University Letter, published on Tuesdays, is distributed electronically to the University community and is always available online. For more information, contact Jan Orvik, editor, janorvik@mail.und.edu, (701) 777-3621. |
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| BIMD Seminar Series |
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Dr. Clint Schmidt, Director of Research Operations for NovaDigm Therapeutics, a Grand Forks biotechnology company, will make next week’s presentation in the Foundations of Biomedical Science seminar series. The title of Dr. Schmidt’s talk is “Recent advances in immunization and vaccines.” His presentation begins at 1 p.m. Friday, November 20, in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Room 5510. For more information on Dr. Schmidt or on the seminar series itself, contact Dr. Jon Jackson. All are welcome to attend these seminars. Jon Jackson, Anatomy & Cell Biology |
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| PPT Seminar on Nov. 20 |
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Dr. Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, Ph.D., a Professor in the Department of Physiological Science, University of California, Los Angeles, will present a seminar titled “Diet and exercise are not just for fun; they can change your brain” on Friday, November 20 at 2:00pm in Rm. 3933 in the School of Medicine. This seminar series is sponsored by the Center of Biomedical Research Excellence Pathophysiological Signaling in Neurodegenerative Disorders and the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Therapeutics. All are welcome to attend. Submitted by Deb Kroese |
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| Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow |
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Andrea Slusser, a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow supported in part by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics and by the North Dakota IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence presented results from her summer research project on October 30 and 31, 2009 at the 5th annual Undergraduate Research in the Molecular Sciences meeting in Fargo. She was awarded a competitive $400 travel award from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology to present her work at the national Experimental Biology 2010 meeting in Anaheim, CA this spring. The title of her research is “Peroxiredoxin, a mitochondrial-specific peroxidase, as a possible key regulator of the β-adrenergic receptor anti-apoptotic pathway”. Submitted by James Porter Ph.D |
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| Anatomy and Cell Biology Fall Seminar Series |
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Adam Sudbeck, a graduate student in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, will present a seminar entitled “Elucidation of downstream responses following application of rrCNTF to the rat supraoptic nucleus” on Monday, November 16, at 12:00 p.m. in Room 5510 in the School of Medicine. All are welcome to attend. Submitted by Bonnie Kee |
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