Baptist offers addiction symposium to healthcare professionals educators

October 06, 2017

Nationally-known experts on addiction and compulsive behaviors will speak at a symposium for healthcare professionals and educators Saturday, Oct. 21, at the Carson-Myre Health Heart Center Auditorium at Baptist Health Paducah.

Nationally-known experts on addiction and compulsive behaviors will speak at a symposium for healthcare professionals and educators Saturday, Oct. 21, at the Carson-Myre Health Heart Center Auditorium at Baptist Health Paducah.

The event will be from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., with registration at 7:30 a.m. The fee is $60 in advance; $75 at the door. Space is limited, so register by Oct. 18 by phoning 270.575.2723 or email [email protected]. Invited are healthcare professionals and educators, including physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, licensed professional counselors, licensed marriage and family therapists, psychologists, substance abuse counselors, licensed social workers, pharmacists and clergy.

Teachers and school counselors also are encouraged to attend.  Continuing Medical Education credit hours are available for several professions. The symposium will be moderated by Patrick Withrow, M.D., retired cardiologist and current director of outreach at Baptist Health Paducah. Topics and presenters include:

  • “Youth Suicide Prevention: Everybody’s Business” by Hatim A. Omar, MD, FFAP, chief of adolescent medicine at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. Dr. Omar is founder and chairman of the Stop Youth Suicide Campaign.
  • “Adolescent and Young Adult Continuum of Care: Increasing Engagement and Decreasing Trauma” by Heather R. Hayes, M.Ed, CEO of Heather R. Hayes & Associates, Inc., who has presented nationally and internationally on addiction, co-occurring psychiatric disorders, disordered eating, trauma and adolescent/young adult issues.
  • “Kentucky’s Evolving Response to the Opioid Epidemic” by Van L. Ingram, executive director for the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy.
  • “Relapse or Relapse Prevention: A Choice” by Brian Fingerson, BS Pharmacy, RPh, FAPhA, president of Kentucky Professionals Recovery Network, a company formed to educated health care professionals about the disease of chemical dependency.
  • “Mind Games - Considering Video Games and Mental Health” by Erica Sarr, PsyD, M.Ed, therapist at Gentle Path at the Meadows, a treatment program in Arizona.