The University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine will host the 2022 James H. Horner, MD, Distinguished Visiting Professor lecture Friday, October 28. The discussions and presentations by professors, medical professionals, and local leaders will focus on collaborative approaches to decreasing community violence.
The event at Hamilton Eye Institute’s Freeman Auditorium, 930 Madison Ave., is free and open to the public. It will start with lunch at 11:30 a.m., feature several presentations from experts, and conclude with a community panel discussion ending at 4 p.m.
This year’s distinguished visiting professor is Rochelle A. Dicker, MD, trauma surgeon, vice chair for Surgical Critical Care, and trauma director at the University of California, Los Angeles. She will present an hour-long lecture (2-3 p.m.) on health care strategies to reduce firearm injury.
UTHSC professors Andrew J. Kerwin, MD, FACS, DABS, chief of the Division of Trauma/Surgical Critical Care in the Department of Surgery, and Regan F. Williams, MD, MS, FACS, FAAP, associate professor of surgery and pediatrics and medical director of trauma at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, will also speak at the event. They will present data on firearm injuries in adults (12:30-1:15 p.m.) and in children (1:15-2 p.m.). Other presenters include Laura Harris, PhD, associate professor in the UTHSC College of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry, Delvin Lane, executive director of 901 B.L.O.C. Squad, and Shelby County Commissioner Charlie Caswell, Jr. (3-3:30 p.m.).
This event aims to achieve an improved understanding of ways to decrease social determinants to reduce violence in adults and children within our community. It will give attendees the chance to become familiar with resources available to health care professionals that could be utilized as hospital-based violence intervention programs, improve their medical practice and performance strategies for better patient care related to injuries from firearms and other forms of violence, and better understand how to improve patient outcomes by addressing the impact of violence on the patient population and providing resources to curtail and reduce this social determinant of health.
This distinguished visiting professorship honors James H. Horner, a medical student at UTHSC who died shortly before his expected graduation. His medical degree was awarded posthumously in 1988. Dr. Horner’s family established the professorship to promote education, compassion, and academic excellence in the practice of medicine.
Space for this event is limited, and registration is available online.