Conference on Opioids
News
SUMMARY: The JMU Physician Assistant Program has been awarded a federal grant from the Health Resources & Services Administration to hold a one-day conference on the nationwide opiate epidemic.
Register here: http://jmu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3RgfxEhswoN3ZYx
Opioid overdoses have killed over 5,000 Virginians since 2007 (Richmond Times Dispatch). According to the Virginia Attorney General’s office, the number of deaths from overdoses of heroin or prescription drugs in the state increased to 728 in 2014 from 661 the year prior. In the first half of 2016, Harrisonburg Police Officers seized over 14-times the total amount they confiscated in all of 2015. On August 11, 2017, President Donald Trump declared the opioid crisis a “national emergency”.
The JMU Physician Assistant Program has been awarded a federal grant from the Health Resources & Services Administration to hold a one-day conference on the nationwide opiate epidemic. The conference will take place in the Festival Center Grand Ballroom on Saturday October 21 from 9:00am to 4:00pm.
The target audience is medical practitioners (MDs, DOs, PAs, and NPs), as well as nurses, podatrists, dentists, and anyone who deals with prescription opiates and their potential for abuse. All relevant health professions students are also welcome. There will be physicians speaking on the medical treatment of pain and addiction, a psychologist speaking about behavioral therapy for addiction, and a state police officer who will speak on the criminal aspect of drug abuse in the Harrisonburg area.
The conference is free to attend, but you MUST register beforehand. There will be free refreshments and boxed lunches provided to registrants as well.
