Published on March 7, 2017 by Olivia Odom  
HEAL announcement

Registration is open for Samford University’s Healthcare Ethics and Law Institute’s annual conference on April 21.

The conference is a one-day event, from 8 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., and will take place in the Regions Community Resource Room in Cooney Hall at Samford University. 

This year’s conference will cover one of today’s biggest issues in health care ethics and law, “Pain Management in an Era of Opioid Abuse.”

“There are few subjects more prominent on the minds of health care practitioners, attorneys, ethicists, institutional ethics committees, practice managers, and yes, even consumers, generally, than opioid abuse,” said Michael Hogue, associate dean for Samford’s Center for Faith and Health. “Together with our conference presenters, we will examine the ethical framework for ensuring effective pain management to those in need, while at the same time curtailing the opioid epidemic.”

The conference will include speakers with a variety of backgrounds and expertise:

Andrea Collins, assistant professor for graduate nursing, Samford, and practicing family nurse practitioner
Maryam Iranikha, associate professor of pharmacy practice, Samford
David N. Juurlink, staff internist and head of the Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada
Stefan G. Kertesz, associate professor, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine
Thomas J. Kopec, assistant professor and director of undergraduate athletic training, Samford
Dennis Sansom, professor and chair of philosophy, Samford
Denis Tanner, associate pastor of spiritual formation and students, Shades Crest Baptist Church, Birmingham

This is the first year the conference is offering online participation through WebEx. Organizers hope it will expand the opportunities for health care practitioners across the country to join the conversation.

Advanced registration is encouraged as seating is limited, Hogue said. Program tuition costs $79 for in-person participation and $49 for online participants.

Continuing education hours are available in nursing, medicine, pharmacy, social work and physical therapy.

Olivia Odom is a journalism and mass communication major and a news and feature writer in the College of Health Sciences.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.