COURSE TITLE

Back Injury: Evaluation and Treatment

This class has been CANCELED!

August 7-8, 2008 (Thursday-Friday)

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course will provide up-to-date, evidence-based, and practice-oriented knowledge: all you need and always wanted to know about the diagnosis and treatment of low back pain. Speakers have many years of experience in this field and comprehensively cover all the topics from basic science to practical management in the occupational health clinic. You will have a chance to discuss the new treatment guidelines and prescription options; hear how leading physical therapists, physiatrists, psychologists, and pain specialists work with complicated back injury cases; learn about the latest trends in artificial disk implants; learn what patients can expect from complementary therapies; and get a glimpse of the cutting edge stem cell research in the Bay Area.

COURSE DIRECTORS

Wolf E. Mehling, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor, Family and Community Medicine, UCSF; Integrative Medicine Physician, UCSF Osher Center

Dr. Mehling is Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at UCSF. He received his MD from Hamburg University, Germany. He trained in Family Medicine, Manual Medicine, and Psychotherapy both in Germany and the U.S. and worked in private practice for 12 years.

At the clinic of the Osher Center, Dr. Mehling provides Manual Medicine including Breath Therapy, a hands-on mind-body approach. Following a research fellowship, he conducted a clinical trial of Breath Therapy. His current research interests focus on psychosocial predictors of chronic low back pain, mind-body approaches and body-work therapies.

Robert J. Harrison, MD, MPH, Clinical Professor of Medicine, UCSF and Chief, Occupational Health Surveillance and Evaluation Program, California Department of Public Health

CONFIRMED TOPICS AND SPEAKERS

DAY 1

Overview and Guidelines
Robert Harrison, MD, MPH
Wolf Mehling, MD

Physical Exam
Linda Morse, MD, MPH, Chief of Occupational Medicine, Kaiser Permanente San Francisco, Occupational Health Center

Complementary and Alternative Therapies
Wolf Mehling, MD

Diagnostic Injections
Richard Derby, MD, Associate Clinical Professor and Medical Director, Spinal Diagnostic and Treatment Center, Daly City, CA

Ergonomics to Prevent Back Injury in the Workplace
R.J. Banks, MS, CIE, Ergonomics Services Supervisor, Safety and Health Services, State Compensation Insurance Fund, San Francisco, CA

Radiology, Plain Films, and MRI
Cynthia T. Chin, MD, Associate Professor of Radiology and Neurosurgery, Section of Neuroradiology,
UCSF

Physical Therapy, Diagnosis, and Treatment
Nancy Byl, PhD, PT, FAPTA, Department Chair and Professor, Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, UCSF School of Medicine

Basic Science: Disc Degeneration, Biomechanics, and the Promise of Stem Cells
Jeffrey Lotz, PhD, Director of Behavioral Medicine, Spine One Medical Group, Los Gatos, CA

DAY 2

Neurological Exam, Including EMG/Nerve Conduction
Ann Poncelet, MD, Professor, Department of Neurology, UCSF

Disability Management
Linda Morse, MD, MPH, Chief of Occupational Medicine, Kaiser Permanente San Francisco, Occupational Health Center

Therapeutic Injections
Sibel Demir-Deviren, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, UCSF

Behavioral Interventions
Kimeron Hardin, PhD, Director of Behavioral Medicine, Spine One Medical Group, Los Gatos, CA

Surgery and Artificial Discs
Vedat Deviren, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, UCSF

Medication
Lori Reisner, PharmD, Pharmacist, UCSF Pharmaceutical Services

COURSE OBJECTIVES

• Review guidelines for evaluation and treatment of back injury
  
  
• Describe aspects of the physical examination to evaluate back injury
  
  
• Discuss diagnostic injections in the evaluation of back injury
  
  
• Identify ergonomic interventions that can prevent back injury in the workplace
  
  
• Discuss radiology, plain films, and MRI as tools in the evaluation of back injury
  
  
• Explain the importance of physical therapy in the diagnosis and treatment of back injury
  
  
• Explain the basic science of back injury: disc degeneration, biomechanics, and stem cells
  
  
• Review neurological examination techniques, including EMG and nerve conduction, in back injury diagnosis
  
  
• Describe disability management in back injury cases
  
  
• Discuss the use of therapeutic injections in treating back injury
  
  
• Explain behavioral interventions in back injury treatment
  
  
• Describe the use of surgery and artificial discs to treat back injury
  
  
• Report on the latest medications available to treat back injury
  
  
• Discuss complementary and alternative therapies for back injury
  
  

AUDIENCE

Occupational health physicians and nurses, physical and occupational therapists, other occupational health and safety professionals such as loss control safety professionals and industrial hygienists interested in the clinical aspects of this common occupational injury.

CREDIT

13 AMA PRA Category 1 credits™
15.6 BRN contact hours
2.0 ABIH Safety CM points, Approval #08-1827
12 QME credit hours
1.0 BCSP COC point

Course Schedule

©2008 University of California, Berkeley
School of Public Health - COEH Continuing Education