Valdosta State University’s Exercise Physiology Program will host the Exercise is Medicine Symposium from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 7, in the Health Sciences and Business Administration Building Auditorium. This event is open to anyone interested in learning more about the benefits of exercise and its inclusion in patient treatment plans.

Registration is $25 per person by March 2 and includes a T-shirt. Registration on the day of the event is $30 and T-shirts are not guaranteed.

The Exercise is Medicine Symposium will feature a panel of health care providers sharing their thoughts on the applications of physical activity in the prevention and treatment of disease. They are Dr. Ben Hogan, chief of family medicine at South Georgia Medical Center, assistant medical director at Langdale Hospice House, and team physician for the Valdosta City School System and student athletes at VSU; Dr. Kimberly Minick, chiropractor; Dr. Bonni Cohen, assistant professor and graduate programs coordinator for the School of Nursing at VSU and lead nurse practitioner at Valdosta Medical Clinic; Dr. Maurice Solis, a peripheral vascular and endovascular surgeon at South Georgia Medical Center; Dr. Mark Kasper, a faculty member in the Department of Nutrition, Food, and Exercise Science at Florida State University; Bart Edgar, manager of Ergonomics and Occupational Testing at CSX Transportation; and Dr. Joseph Sharp, clinic director of PT Solutions Physical Therapy in Chatsworth.

Five- to 10-minute exercise sessions will be led throughout the morning to help attendees meet the recommended minimum 30 minutes a day of moderate intensity exercise. Health screenings to test body weight and body mass index will also be conducted. Morning and afternoon refreshments will be served, and there will be drawings for gift baskets filled with prizes donated by event sponsors and local businesses.

Sponsorship opportunities for the event are available. All sponsors will have the name of their company printed on the Exercise is Medicine T-shirt. Sponsors who donate $250 or more will be provided table space to market their business, as well as their name and company logo featured on a slideshow that will be displayed throughout the event.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the Exercise Physiology and Athletic Training programs at VSU.

To register, send a check or money order to Sarah Fretti Thomas, VSU College of Nursing and Health Sciences, 1500 N. Patterson St. Valdosta, GA, 31698-0095. All checks and money orders should be made payable to the Health Sciences Excellence Fund and include the full name, address, phone number, and T-shirt size of the registrant.

The Exercise is Medicine initiative was launched in 2007 by the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Medical Association to encourage primary care physicians to include exercise in patient treatment plans.

Contact Sarah F. Thomas, instructor of exercise physiology, at [email protected] or (229) 245-6599 for more information.