American College of Lifestyle Medicine Announces Shift of 2020 Annual Conference to a Live Virtual Format to be Held October 22-25

ST. LOUIS, June 24, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The American College of Lifestyle Medicine today announced that its 2020 Lifestyle Medicine Annual Conference, originally scheduled for Nov. 1-4 in Carlsbad, CA, will now be held as a live, virtual event, Thursday through Sunday, October 22-25, 2020.

Conference registration includes 20 hours of both live and recorded Lifestyle Medicine-related presentations, with an option to participate in an additional eight hours of interactive pre- and post-conference workshops. The conference has been approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™.

Registration for the new virtual event, with the theme "Lifestyle Medicine: Health Restored," is now open. A full agenda and additional details can be found at https://lifestylemedicineconference.org/

"After thoughtful deliberation, and with the utmost concern for the health and safety of all our constituents, our Board unanimously voted for this change," said ACLM President Dexter Shurney, MD, MBA, MPH, FACLM, dipABLM. "We are excited that, with this change, even more medical professionals and trainees will have the opportunity to be part of this online medical education experience, showcasing the foremost experts in our field, with evidence-based presentations on food and exercise as medicine, to sleep, social connection, and the other pillars of Lifestyle Medicine."

LM2020 will open with Legends of Lifestyle Medicine and Their Prescription to the World's Most Pressing Health Crises, featuring Drs. Dean Ornish, Caldwell Esselstyn, T. Colin Campbell and John McDougall, all of whom are previous recipients of ACLM's Lifetime Achievement Award. Other notable sessions include Dr. Roy Taylor's presentation, Averting the Looming Global Pandemic of Type 2 Diabetes: Understanding T2D from the DiRECT, Counterpoint and Counterbalance Research Studies, and ACLM President Dexter Shurney leading an expert panel focused on Lifestyle Medicine: A Health Disparities Solution.

"The new dates in October will offer live sessions with the same scientific rigor and educational experience our annual conference attendees have come to expect," said 2020 Conference Planning Committee Chair Sami Beg, MD, MPA, MPH, FACLM. "The focus of our content will explore how Lifestyle Medicine plays a critical role in strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerabilities. By treating the root cause of chronic disease, we set a solid foundation for restoring health throughout the nation and around the world."

Conference registration is set at $599 for ACLM Members, $749 for Non-Members. Student registration is $49 for Members and $99 for Non-Members, with an abundance of student and trainee scholarship opportunities.

The American Board of Lifestyle Medicine (ABLM) certification exam, traditionally hosted immediately following the annual conference, will be offered in 2020 as a "take-from-home" exam November 7-8. Attendance at the virtual conference will fulfill the "live" CME prerequisite for the 2020 ABLM exam. The deadline to register on the ABLM website is September 30, 2020.

"This is an unprecedented time, but out of crisis comes opportunity," Shurney said. "The events of this year have made the field ACLM represents all the more relevant, with the nation and world awakening to the urgent need for Lifestyle Medicine to become the foundation of health care. Health restoration is what our world needs and what Lifestyle Medicine delivers."

The 2020 conference is presented by The Prospect Fund, a socially responsible investment fund which offers its resources to advance important causes globally.

ABOUT THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF LIFESTYLE MEDICINE: ACLM is the medical professional society for those dedicated to the advancement and clinical practice of Lifestyle Medicine as the foundation of a transformed and sustainable health care system. Lifestyle Medicine is the use of a whole food, plant-predominant dietary lifestyle, regular physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, avoidance of risky substances and positive social connection as a primary therapeutic modality for treatment and reversal of chronic disease.

More than a professional association, ACLM is a galvanized force for change. ACLM addresses the need for quality education and certification, supporting its members in their individual practices and in their collective mission to domestically and globally promote Lifestyle Medicine as the first treatment option, as opposed to a first option of treating symptoms and consequences with expensive, ever increasing quantities of pills and procedures. ACLM members are united in their desire to identify and eradicate the root cause of disease. Learn more at http://www.LifestyleMedicine.org.

SOURCE American College of Lifestyle Medicine