The American College of Lifestyle Medicine Announces Award Recognizing Student Leadership in Lifestyle Medicine—Application Process Opens
Naples, FL (PRWEB) June 22, 2016 -- The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM), the nation’s medical professional association for physicians and allied health professionals dedicated to using lifestyle as a first treatment option, announced today the establishment of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine Donald A. Pegg Student Leadership Award. The inaugural award presentation will take place during the CME accredited Lifestyle Medicine 2016, ACLM’s annual conference, set for October 23-26, 2016 at the Naples Grande Resort in Naples, Florida.
The award was established in honor of Donald A. Pegg through a generous donation to ACLM by Donald’s family to honor him and the hard work he put in adopting lifestyle medicine to improve his health. A New York City businessman, Donald suffered a heart attack and a stroke in 1986 when he was 52, then using lifestyle changes to improve his life, enjoyed 27 additional years with family and friends.
Donald and his family, firm believers in the power of lifestyle medicine, made the donation to the College to encourage leadership in lifestyle medicine at the student level for the advancement of this important field of healthcare. The goal of the award will be to establish Lifestyle Medicine Interest Groups (LMIG) at medical schools and other healthcare professional training programs in the country.
"Encouraging young health care professionals, including medical students, nursing students, physical therapy students, occupational therapy students, nutrition students, students in the exercise profession, and others to adopt Lifestyle Medicine Interest Groups (LMIGs) will help to ensure the inclusion of lifestyle medicine principles in the education and practice of our future healthcare leaders," said Beth Pegg Frates, MD, Donald’s daughter. “I know how happy our dad would have been to see that the changes he made in his life will inspire a young generation of lifestyle medicine leaders.”
“We are sincerely grateful to Donald’s family for the generous contribution they made to help us advance the field of Lifestyle Medicine and think there can be no better way to do that than to help the next generation of healthcare professionals realize the potential of lifestyle medicine,” said ACLM Awards Committee Chair Sami Bég, MD. “We are in the midst of a global wave of healthcare transformation where lifestyle medicine is front and center, and we believe that the younger generations need to be inspired and equipped with the necessary skills in this growing field. By getting students involved in establishing LMIGs we hope to help them and their institutions see how lifestyle medicine can become the focal point in the conversation of how healthcare professionals can truly help their patients.”
Applications for the award, which includes a trip to the ACLM annual conference and a seed grant to help students start the LMIG, are being accepted through September 9, 2016 through the online application form found on the ACLM website.
This inaugural award is in addition to the Lifestyle Medicine Lifetime Achievement and Trailblazer Awards that were announced last year. Nominations for these awards are being sought through July 31st, 2016. Those interested in submitting a nomination may do so via the online nomination form found on the ACLM website.
About the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM):
ACLM is the medical professional society in the United States for physicians and medical professionals dedicated to the advancement and practice of Lifestyle Medicine as the foundation of a transformed and sustainable healthcare system. Lifestyle Medicine is a branch of evidence-based medicine in which comprehensive lifestyle changes (including optimal nutrition, physical activity, stress management, social support and environmental exposures) are used to help prevent, treat and even reverse the progression of many chronic diseases by addressing their underlying causes. Visit lifestylemedicine.org for details.
Susan Benigas, Executive Director, American College of Lifestyle Medicine, http://lifestylemedicine.org, +1 314-398-7343, [email protected]
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