Category: News

Dr. Adam Goldstein, who is director of the tobacco intervention programs in the UNC School of Medicine, argues his point in an opinion piece published in the March/April 2015 issue of Annals of Family Medicine.

What is it like to be someone who smokes in today’s increasingly smoke-free world? How can providers best interact with their patients who smoke and support their efforts to become tobacco-free? A new study by researchers from the University of North Carolina (UNC) Department of Family Medicine and the UNC...

Robb English, the Aquatics Supervisor in Chapel Hill’s Parks and Recreation Department, dipped almost a can of tobacco a day when he came to the Wellness at Work Tobacco Free Employee Program. As a teenager who played sports, Robb says that dipping tobacco was part of the culture, less overt...

Cristen P. Page, MD, MPH, has been named chair of the department of Family Medicine, effective March 30. Page is a multifaceted and nationally recognized innovator and clinical educator. Cristen P. Page, MD, MPH, has been named the William B. Aycock Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Family...

Dr. Todd Zakrajsek, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and the Executive Director of the Academy of Educators in the School of Medicine at UNC-Chapel Hill. He was a featured speaker at TEDxUNC held at Memorial Hall on Saturday, February 7, 2015. At TEDxUNC, innovative...

Smoking on and off since I was thirteen, I’d tried every trick in the book to stop. Every attempt ended in failure, whether it was stopping cold turkey or gradually with the help of medication. I became, as the old joke goes, an expert on quitting. After all, I’d done...

“…I remind myself that mercy, which is a willingness to enter into the chaos of another, is part and parcel of what I signed onto as a physician.” Dr. Tim Daaleman, Vice Chair of the UNC Department of Family Medicine, shares his thoughts in a recent issue of the Journal...

After smoking for more than 40 years, with a brief three-year smoke-free period, Joe Manginelli, a Patient Business Associate at UNC Hospitals Spine and Imaging Center, had his last cigarette on September 22, 2011. What made you decide to quit smoking? A few things made me quit. Mostly I did...

When Robert Jenkins came into UNC Health Care System’s Tobacco Free Tar Heels (TFTH) program, he had been smoking since he was 15 years old (“too long,” he said). Like many teens, it was the “cool factor” that led him to smoke. He shared that he was so sick of...

Tyron Edwards, or T.Y., as he is known, entered the Wellness @ Work Tobacco Free Employee Program soon after it begin in fall 2011. He smoked between 1–2 packs of cigarettes per day, and had been smoking since he was 16 years old. He reported being “just tired of smoking.”...

Bob Pendergraph, an HVAC Mechanic who works in Plant Engineering, is a family man who enjoys spending time outdoors hiking, biking, and fishing. He realized that his smoking was preventing him from being active with his grandchildren. He also noticed that many people and places in his life were becoming...

Claudia Sibila, a medical interpreter in the Interpreter Services Department, did not realize how much her friends and family truly influenced her every day. “The people that surround you become a part of you,” she said. “A positive influence is important.” Her three pregnancies provided Sibila with motivation for being...

Ebony joined the Tobacco Free Tar Heels program nearly two years ago. At that time, she had cut down on her smoking from more than a pack a day to just a few cigarettes, but she couldn’t seem to quit those last few. Her boyfriend was allergic to cigarette smoke...