LIFEPATH conference includes wide spectrum of topics for health care workers - 7/30/2012 - East Tennessee State University

Public health professionals can learn new skills and enhance existing ones at an upcoming conference on Friday, Aug. 17, sponsored by LIFEPATH, Tennessee’s public health training center.

“Public Health and You” will feature experts speaking on a variety of topics suited for health professionals, including health educators and administrators, nurses, pediatricians, physicians, social workers, epidemiologists and others. The conference will be held from 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

LIFEPATH, which is housed in the East Tennessee State University College of Public Health, provides academic and non-academic training opportunities for the public health workforce across Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. “Public Health and You,” which attracted attendees

Dr. Joy Wachs, director of the ETSU University and Midway Honors Program, will speak on community partnerships.

Tony Benton, CEO of Mountain States Health Alliance’s Franklin Woods Community Hospital, will focus on Accountable Care Organizations, a health care model where groups of physicians, hospitals and other health care providers come together to coordinate and improve care for patients while also lowering costs.
Joe Smith and Josh Smith will bring dual perspectives to the topic of media and public relations. Josh Smith is the evening news anchor for WJHL-TV 11 Connects, and Joe Smith is director of media relations for ETSU’s Office of University Relations.

Dr. Mike Stoots, an assistant professor and undergraduate program coordinator for the ETSU College of Public Health, will discuss how participants can conduct evaluation of their own organizations to better measure outcomes and success.

Admission is free, but pre-registration is encouraged due to advance planning requirements. Online registration is available on the LIFEPATH website at www.tnphtc.org. For more information, contact Paula Masters, director of LIFEPATH, at (423) 439-4421 or mastersp@etsu.edu.

ETSU to present Buffalo Mountain Writers Workshop

East Tennessee State University’s Office of Professional Development will present the Buffalo Mountain Writers Workshop on three consecutive Fridays and Saturdays, Aug. 10-11, Aug. 17-18 and Aug. 24-25. The sessions meet on Fridays from 6-8 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. There is a fee of $59 for the event.

The workshop is designed as an innovative experience covering all writing genres and is open to authors from beginners to experienced writers.

The workshop features Elizabeth Hunter, a freelance writer living in the Bandana community of Bakersville, N.C. A graduate of Radcliffe College and ETSU, she is an award-winning columnist, writer and contributing editor for Blue Ridge Country magazine. Hunter and photographer J. Scott Graham have collaborated on a guidebook and two coffee-table books about the Blue Ridge Parkway.

In addition, Hunter has taught nature writing and journaling at the John C. Campbell Folk School and the Penland School of Crafts. She has also been a volunteer writing instructor at a medium-security prison for the past five years.

Visit www.etsu.edu/professionaldevelopment and click “featured programs” for more information, or call (800) 222-3878.