Summary of the “Current Challenges in Rehabilitation Medicine” conference
The 2017 Current Challenges in Rehabilitation Medicine conference was hosted on Friday and Saturday, June 16 – 17, 2017 at the William and Ida Friday Center in Chapel Hill, NC. The conference focused on best practices for controlled substance prescribing on Day One and innovative treatment strategies for spinal cord injury (SCI) patients on Day Two. Topics of discussion included opioids, patient advocacy, integrated care, neurogenic bladder, mobility, and sexual health issues relating to the care of traumatic brain spinal cord injury patients.
The North Carolina Society of PM&R organized the June 16th events.
Members of UNC’s Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, UNC School of Medicine, and UNC Healthcare organized the June 17th events. We heard from several wonderful speakers and their lectures are listed below:
| Presentation | Speaker | Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| Managing the Neurogenic Bladder in SCI Patients | Kristy Borawski, MD | UNC Urology |
| Interprofessional Collaboration for Effective Neurogenic Bladder Management” | Kevin Stahr, OTR/L
Raheleh Tschoepe, MS, OTR/L |
Ohio State University
UNC School of Medicine |
| Intracortical Neuroprosthetics to Restore Upper Limb Function | Jennifer Collinger, PhD | University of Pittsburgh |
| Seating and Positioning Your SCI Client | Deanna Baldassari, MS, OTR/L | Durham VAMC |
| Sexuality after SCI | Marcalee Sipski Alexander, MD | Birmingham VA Medical Center |
| TeleSCI | Marcalee Sipski Alexander, MD | Birmingham VA Medical Center |
| Perspectives on Living with SCI – A Panel Discussion | Moderators Paul Thananopavarn, MD and Karla Thompson, MD | UNC Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation |
Attendees were eligible to apply for educational credits, provided by Wake AHEC.
We were fortunate to have 11 exhibitors showcase at our event. Thank you to these exhibitors:
- Silver Sponsors
- Allergan Pharmaceuticals
- Restorative Therapies
- Merz Pharmaceuticals
- Table Only Sponsors
- Medical Technologies of Georgia
- NC Spinal Cord Injury Association
- Bridge II Sports
- Ipsen Pharmaceuticals
- NuMotion
- Sunrise Medical
- Affordable Medical LLC
- Pride Mobility Products Corporation
Attendees visit various exhibitor tables
Thank you to our Planning Committee members Tricia Agnoli, Susan Carter, Christina Del Riego, Courtney Matrunick, Aaron Olsen, and Raheleh Tschoepe! Also, special thank you to our conference co-directors Drs. Paul Thananopavarn and William Filer.