Preventive Medicine 2003 to feature research findings, plenary sessions on disease prevention

World's premier meeting on disease prevention scheduled for San Diego February 19-23

Scheduled for February 19-23 in San Diego, Preventive Medicine 2003 will attract approximately 1,000 physicians and other health care professionals. The meeting will be held at the Paradise Point Resort Hotel.

State-of-the-art plenary sessions will focus on current health care policy trends, practice issues, emerging organizational and management models, and health promotion programs.

Subject matter to be discussed during the meeting will fall into four major areas: public health practice, clinical preventive medicine, informatics, and prevention policy issues.

New research findings to be presented during the meeting include:

• A look at the prevalence of overweight children in the Los Angeles County School System based on the results of a statewide physical fitness testing program.

• The results of a prospective study on the association between body size parameters and the risk of developing prostate cancer.

• An assessment of the attitudes, perceptions, and practices of house staff and nursing personnel regarding medical error reporting.

• A review of adverse events and deaths associated with laboratory errors at a specific hospital along with recommendations on how to avoid the recurrence of such events in the future.

• An examination of recent trends in rates of mortality from leading causes of death in Los Angeles County and an assessment of disparities by race/ethnicity.

• A population-based analysis of mortality due to pneumococcal disease in California from 1989 to 1998 and resulting public health recommendations.

• An evaluation of the cost-effectiveness and success of an E-mail-based program for nutrition intervention.

• An examination of whether mammography screening guidelines are associated with personal characteristics of women, such as race/ethnicity, age, socioeconomic status, and family history of breast cancer.

Featured plenary session speakers include:

• John Seffrin, Ph.D., CED of the American Cancer Society, who will make the Keynote Address at 5:30 p.m. on February 19.

• Stan Glantz, M.D., Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and well known anti-tobacco advocate, who will address meeting attendees on the "Epidemiology and Politics of International Tobacco Control" during a February 20 morning session.

• George Lundberg, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of the Internet health site Medscape, who will speak on the "Future Roles of Preventive Medicine Specialists in Quality Improvement and E-Health" during a morning session on February 21.

• Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, M.D., Chief of the Division of Epidemiology in the Family and Preventive Medicine Department at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, who will participate in two sessions that will address women's health issues, including the recently halted hormone replacement therapy clinical trial that was part of the Women's Health Initiative.

• Steve Blair, Ph.D. of the Cooper Institute in Dallas and senior author of the Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity, who will take part in a discussion on the proper "dose" of physical activity on the morning of February 23.

Other topics that will be explored during Preventive Medicine 2003 include the public health aspects of emergency preparedness, smallpox response planning, new research and new guidelines on sexually transmitted diseases, new prevention strategies for STDs among adolescents, a bi-national perspective on border health issues, a detailed examination of the California initiative to improve school nutrition, an update on efforts to prevent and control cardiovascular disease, an update on cancer control and prevention issues, a preview on the use of family history as a genomics tool in healthcare, and a discussion on how to make Medicare more prevention oriented.

Another highlight of the meeting will take place when the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force updates meeting registrants on their most recent preventive health recommendations.

In addition to the formal plenary and concurrent sessions, original research oral presentations, and new research poster presentations, the meeting will feature an exhibit hall where registrants can learn about products and services designed for application in preventive medicine and health promotion, an awards banquet at which members of the College will recognize their peers for professional achievement, an Open Policy Forum at which policy issues will be discussed, career advancement sessions, and social events to increase networking opportunities.

For additional information, contact:
Bill Glitz (703) 532-3797 or wglitz@aol.com
Jim Augustine (703) 644-6824 or medsci@earthlink.net

Beginning on February 19, you can contact us by calling the Paradise Point Resort Hotel at (858) 274-4630 and asking for the Boardroom