Physicians for Peace Volunteer Receives Grant to Host Conference

NORFOLK, VA (11/30/2007)(readMedia)-- Dr. Gail Grisetti, PT, EdD, a long-time Physicians for Peace volunteer, has received a grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality of the Department of Health and Human Services to host a national conference addressing issues facing medical professionals involved in the treatment of people with lower-limb amputations.

The conference, titled “Collaborative Practice and Research to Improve Functional Outcomes for Amputees,” will be held April 11-12, 2008, in Norfolk, Virginia. Dr. Grisetti, Associate Professor at the School of Physical Therapy, College of Health Sciences, at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA, was instrumental in developing the training curriculum for the Physicians for Peace Walking Free program, to provide treatment and rehabilitation to those who have lost limbs, in the Dominican Republic. She has led many student groups on Physicians for Peace missions to the Dominican Republic since the year 2000.

The conference will:

• Bring together the core disciplines involved in the treatment of people with lower-limb amputations

• Encourage vascular and orthopaedic surgeons, prosthetists and physical therapists to share best practices

• Identify barriers to collaborative practice and research

• Develop a collaborative research agenda in the field

The conference will include speakers such as noted expert Dr. Robert Gailey from the University of Miami and the Miami Veterans’ Affairs Medical Center, as well as “think-tank” breakout sessions on a variety of topics.

The Conference will also address the skills required to meet the needs of the war amputee returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. This area of rehabilitation will be presented by Dr. Paul Pasquina, the Director of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC, and by John Fergason, the lead prosthetist at the Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, TX.

“Dr. Grisetti has been a wonderful volunteer for and partner with Physicians for Peace over many years, and we applaud her efforts to organize this conference,” noted Physicians for Peace CEO Gen. Ron Sconyers (U.S.A.F., Ret.). “The knowledge gathered and shared at the conference will prove invaluable in improving the care received by amputees both in the U.S. and throughout the world.”

For more information on the conference, please contact Physicians for Peace at (757) 625-7569.

ABOUT PHYSICIANS FOR PEACE

Physicians for Peace is an international private voluntary organization that mobilizes healthcare educators to assist developing nations with unmet medical needs and scarce resources. Through effective, hands-on medical education and training, clinical care and donated medical supplies, Physicians for Peace creates long-term, sustainable, replicable, and evidence-based projects to help partner nations build medical capability and capacity to help themselves. Volunteers for the 501©(3) nonprofit organization have conducted medical missions in more than 50 countries. More information is available at www.physiciansforpeace.org.

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