|
NEWS SERVICES |
NEWS
| For immediate use |
March 4, 2003 -- No. 138 |
Briefs
Portion of Merritt Mill Road to temporarily close
The section of Merritt Mill Road located immediately north of the intersection with Cameron Avenue will be closed beginning early Saturday (March 8) morning so that railroad repairs may be made.
Both lanes will be blocked, and traffic routing signs will be in place ahead of the closing to alert motorists to the repair work.
Weather permitting, the work will be completed and the road re-opened March 12, officials said.
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Association honors Watson with
Member-in-Training AwardThe American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry recently honored Dr. Lea C. Watson with its 2003 Member-in-Training Award.
Watson, a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at UNC’s department of psychiatry, received the award at the association’s 16th Annual Meeting.
The Member-in-Training Award recognizes the best, unpublished original research primarily performed by a new researcher in geriatric psychiatry. Watson was selected by the association’s research committee for her role as the lead author of "Are Residents of Assisted Living Depressed? Results from a Four-State Study."
In this paper, Watson reported that as many as one-third of residents in assisted living facilities show serious symptoms of depression and that residents with severe depression die at a faster rate than those without depression. Watson is presenting the paper at the conference today (March 4).
Watson’s previous honors include the American Psychiatric Association-Hoescht Marion Roussel Fellowship for Women Residents in Psychiatry and the 2002 Stepping Stones Award from the American Association of Geriatric Psychiatrists.
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School of Public Health creates
Virginia partnership for online degreeThe UNC School of Public Health has created a partnership with three Virginia Higher Education Centers to offer Virginia residents access to the school’s online master of public health degree program.
This distance-learning initiative is targeted to traditionally underserved areas of the state and offers participants a reduced tuition rate. In addition, students enrolling through the Higher Education Centers – located in Roanoke, South Boston and Abingdon – will have curriculum enhancements such as study groups and face-to-face discussion forums with UNC faculty members.
The School of Public Health’s online MPH degree program is offered through the school’s Public Health Leadership Program. The curriculum, completed over a three-year timeframe, is multi-disciplinary and tailored for working health professionals. Students undertake all coursework online and are required to attend just one week per year of on-campus study at one of the Higher Education Centers.
Applicants for the MPH degree program come from a variety of professional disciplines including medicine, nursing, environmental health, allied health, social sciences, health education, public health, teaching, dentistry and veterinary care.
For more information, contact a Virginia Higher Education Center or Hollie Pavlica of UNC’s Public Health Leadership Program at (919) 843-5313 or hpavlica@unc.edu. Application materials for fall 2003 are due April 1.
In addition, an information session regarding the program will be held at the Roanoke Higher Education Center on April 10 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
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UNC department of psychiatry contact:
Crystal Hinson, (919) 966-9115