Addiction Awareness Week shines light on complex disease
UNT Health Science Center will host Addiction Awareness Week Nov. 3-5 to help students and the public better understand the disease and help train them as future physicians.
Addiction Awareness Week is presented by the Medical Student Government Association.
"It is rare to find any individual who hasn’t been touched in some fashion by addiction," said John Myers, MSGA Vice President and a member of the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine Class of 2016. "This is important to me because my own family has been impacted by this disease."
Each session will be held in the Medical Education and Training building on the UNTHSC campus.
"I hope that participants will garner a better understanding of addiction as a disease process and gain some tools and insight about this disease so that student can positively impact their patients," Myers said.
Monday, Nov. 3
5:15-6:45 p.m.
Joseph Skrajewski, nationally recognized Director of Medical Education Programs & Initiatives at the Betty Ford Institute, will share his personal story of battling addiction and discuss the complex nature of the disease.
Tuesday, Nov. 4
12-1 p.m.
Kyle Pillans and Brandi Robbins, Children’s Counselors at the Betty Ford Center’s Five Star Kids Program, will discuss the impact of addiction on family dynamics. Their staff will also discuss how the Five Star Kids Program functions and the skills it teaches to promote resiliency in children.
Wednesday, Nov. 5
11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
Viewing of "Pleasure Unwoven: An Explanation of the Brain Disease of Addiction," a video produced by The Institute for Addiction Study, which provides an in-depth look at whether addiction really can be considered a ‘disease.’
Social media