HEALTH BRIEFS
Easter blood drive tomorrow in Santa Rosa and Escambia Counties

The Northwest Florida Blood Center partners with Q100 Radio for a special EASTER LILY BLOOD DRIVE on Friday, April 6 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Donors may make donations at the 2209 Ninth Avenue Center, 1999 East Nine Mile Road Laboratory and Donor Facility and the Pace Center located at the Nettlewood Shopping Center Highway 90. Blood donors will receive an Easter Lily to commemorate each life saving donation along with Easter Eggs. Q100 Radio fans are invited to visit the live remote from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m .at the 2209 North Ninth Avenue Center.

Baptist offers teen internship

Baptists Explorers meets once a month at Baptist Hospital at 7 p.m.-9 p.m.

Baptist Explorers is a group of teens that all have a common goal of having a career in the medical field. This program can help teens interested innearly any medical field, ranging from Dermatology to Neurology. Everyone thinks they know exactly what they want to do in the medical field, but there are so many opportunities and such a large variety of fields that kids don't know about. The program is designed to show teens what other fields there are. Teens get a chance to shadow in whatever field they are interested in.

Shadowing is when a student goes into the room or area that their field is held in and they follow (shadow) the nurse, doctor, or other specialist and see what they really do. They get to experience what they might be doing in their future field. Kids don't get the real perspective on a field unless they really get to experience it. And that is exactly what Baptist Explorers does for this generation of medical specialists. Organizers say that everyone that has shadowed has found it an amazing experience, and they have found a field that they didn't even expect to have an interest in. If you have any questions on how to join Baptist Explorers you can email Tess Waggoner at TazzyyyyT@aol.com. Maybe you can find your true medical field career today.

Heart Healthy classes available at Baptist Hospital

Baptist Hospital Cardiovascular Services is offering Heart Healthy classes for heart disease patients, families and people at risk. Classes are designed to help individuals understand lifestyle factors that increase the risk of heart disease, help reverse the disease and coping mechanisms.

The schedule is as follows:

April 11- Relaxation

April 18- Sodium and label reading

April 25- Irregular heartbeats and cardiac medications

Classes are located in Baptist Health Care Tower 1, Ste. 103, 1717 N. "E" St. All classes are offered at three different times during the scheduled day: 9 a.m., 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

The cost is $5 per class, or a series of eight different classes is $25. Reservations required, call (850) 469-2232.

Local doctor earns national membership

William A. Zimmern Jr. M.D., from Gulf Breeze has completed continuing medical education requirements to retain membership in the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the only medical specialty organization devoted solely to primary care.

As members of the AAFP, family physicians are required to complete 150 hours of continuing medical education every three years. This ensures that family physicians remain educated on the most up-todate medical technologies, research and techniques.

Family physicians, like other medical specialists, complete an extensive three-year residency program in the specialty after graduating from medical school. As part of their residency, family physicians receive training in six major medical areas: pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, psychiatry and neurology, surgery and community medicine. They also receive instruction in many other areas including geriatrics, emergency medicine, ophthalmology, radiology, sports medicine and urology. As a result, family physicians are the only medical specialists qualified to provide comprehensive health care for people of all ages.

People choose family physicians because they are trained to treat a broad range of illnesses from coughs, ear infections, chest pain, diabetes and hypertension, as well as to provide prenatal care and well baby exams. In fact, 207 million office visits are made to family physicians each year. This is 62 million more visits than to any other medical specialty.

The AAFP is the national medical organization representing more than 94,000 family physicians, family practice residents and medical students nationwide. The AAFP was instrumental in establishing the medical specialty of family practice in 1969.

Cancer support group kicks off

Cancer patients, cancer survivors, their families and friends are invited to join Sacred Heart Hospital's new Cancer Support Group. A special kickoff meeting will be held Tuesday, April 10, from 2 to 3 p.m. in the main hospital's Oncology Unit Library on the second floor.

Enjoy some "Tea for the Soul" and light refreshments. The support group will continue to meet on the second Tuesday of each month at 2 p.m. in the same location. Upcoming topics to be addressed in this support group include Advance Directives, side effects of chemotherapy, disability, journaling, and creative imagery.

The group is designed to offer support through education, spirituality, and humor as well as the comfort of fellowship with other cancer patients. For more information, please contact Rene Moses, 416-7593, or Jo Jensen, 416-7928.

Seminar focuses on genetic testing for cancer

The next GoldenCare meeting at Gulf Breeze Hospital is set for April 24 located in the cafeteria. Light refreshments at 7:30 a.m. The program begins at 8 a.m.

The Baptist Cancer Institute team will present education and information on genetic testing that is available for breast, ovarian and colorectal cancer. Research indicates that most cancers are sporadic, but about 10 percent of cancers are hereditary. Genetic testing is recommended to individuals who meet a variety of criteria including family history and age. Most insurance policies are now covering genetic testing as preventative care if certain criteria are met. Humans have 40,000 unique genes in the body and it only takes one mutated gene for cancer to form.

For reservations, call (850) 469-7897.

Seniors' Seminar discusses hybrid annuities

Sacred Heart Hospital's Senior Services' program will present a free seminar on hybrid annuities in Pensacola on Thursday, April 19, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at Sacred Heart Home Care, 213 E. Wright St. The seminar will discuss the differences between fixed indexed annuities, equity indexed annuities, and hybrid annuities. The speaker will be Annalee Leonard, president of Mainstay Financial Group in Gulf Breeze.

Registration is required and seating is limited. To register, call (850) 416-1620 or 1-877- 416-1620. Sacred Heart SENIORSpirit is a free program for persons 55 and older.

Benefits include free screenings, seminars, special inpatient benefits such as a free daily guest meal ticket and newspaper delivery, a monthly calendar of events detailing all SENIORSpirit events, and a quarterly newsletter containing health and event information For more information, please call Sacred Heart at (850) 416- 7000 or visit us online at www.sacred-heart.org.