PRESTONSBURG – A free educational forum for medical professionals on addiction-related issues will be offered Saturday, Nov. 12, in Prestonsburg.

Free Continuing Education Units (CEUs) will be offered for physicians, physician assistants, nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, dentists, social workers, psychologists, family therapists and CADCs. A minimum of 5.5 CEUs will be available per discipline.

The Kentucky Medical Communities UNITED forum is the first in a planned series of educational programs focusing on prescription drug abuse and addiction to be offered by Operation UNITE’s newly formed Medical Advisory Council – a volunteer group of medical professionals.

Pikeville Medical Center and the Appalachian Regional Commission have partnered with UNITE to present this event.

Registration begins at 8 a.m. at the Allen Baptist Church, located on U.S. 23 just north of the Hal Rogers Parkway. The program starts at 9:15 a.m. and concludes about 3:30 p.m. Because lunch will be provided, please RSVP by Friday, Nov. 4, by calling Becky Calhoun at 1-866-678-6483 or by e-mail to bcalhoun@centertech.com.

Three educational workshops will highlight the day’s discussion:

Alcoholism: A disease of the Brain and More
Presented by Dr. Burns M. Brady, this workshop covers neuropharmacology and neuroanatomy of addiction, including the interaction of popularly abused drugs and alcoholism. Participants will garner knowledge including biological, psychological and social aspects of the disease, and understand options for treatment with a focus on the Post Acute Recovery Syndrome.

Dr. Brady is a board-certified family physician and addictionologist. He is a consultant for The Healing Place; a clinical instructor on alcoholism for the University of Kentucky, University of Louisville and Pikeville Schools of Medicine; and recently returned as the medical director of the Kentucky Physicians Health Foundation Impaired Physicians Program.

Medication Assisted Treatment
Dr. William T. Fannin will give current evidence that illustrates addiction as a disease and presents medication assisted treatment as a medical approach to treatment. Information includes a brief history of this treatment and continues the concept to where it is today. The focus is on opiate/opioid addiction and ideas regarding the appropriate application of this form of treatment, stressing the importance of mandatory counseling and keeping the target date for completion.

Dr. Fannin is a Pikeville physician board certified in family medicine and ABAM certified in addiction medicine. He recently served as medical director of addiction services at Pikeville Medical Center and continues to serve local patients who suffer from the disease of addiction. His experiences include acute detoxification, in-patient treatment and medication-assisted treatment on an out-patient basis. He currently serves as medical director for Appalachian Hospice.

“PRIME For Life” Program
Ray Daugherty will define substance abuse disorders as a lifestyle-related disease that is treatable. Participants will learn how to identify, address and prevent such problems prior to biological risk in patients. The program is designed to encourage the professional to use information that supports positive and low-risk choices for the patient.

Daugherty is president of Prevention Research Institute, a leading international, non-profit organization producing research-based curricula that mitigates alcohol- and drug-related issues. He has worked in the alcohol and drug field since 1971, is co-author of the PRIME For Life programs, and co-author of “Reducing the Risk for Substance Abuse: A Life Span Approach.”

UNITE’s Medical Advisory Council was formally organized in April 2011 to aid in the fight against drug abuse and diversion through a process of education, accountability, monitoring and continual re-evaluation of what medical professionals do together.

The Medical Advisory Council meets every fourth Thursday of the month at 5:30 p.m. in the conference training room of the Big Sandy Area Development District, 100 Resource Drive, Prestonsburg.