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| Vol. 21, No. 17 |
| September 15, 1999 |
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Marcus is Named McGovern Prof. of Addiction
"Having worked with people in treatment, the whole notion of prevention has become very important to me." - Dr. Marianne Marcus
In 1998, she received the McGovern Lectureship Award for outstanding contributions to medical education from the Association of Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse (AMERSA). "Our community struggles, as do most communities in this country, with societal problems created by addictions," says Dr. Patricia Starck, dean of the nursing school. "It is important that we educate the current generation of health care professionals to make progress in addressing these problems. Dr. McGovern's generosity has made it possible to concentrate efforts in this important endeavor." "It's very exciting and rewarding to be honored in this way," says Dr. Marcus. "It's also challenging, motivating, an incentive to do even more. It's a responsibility to carry that title - to live up to it." Dr. Marcus says that this professorship announces that this is an important area for study. "Having Dr. McGovern's name attached to it increases that importance," says Dr. Marcus. "He has been extremely supportive of addiction education and research for health professionals around the country - he's made a national effort." Dr. McGovern says of the new professorship and his support of substance abuse education, that he was more than pleased to create the professorship. "I believe that education must play a pivotal role in overcoming the ravaging of individuals and the devastation of families from the results of substance abuse that plagues our nation. "Actually, I couldn't identify a program anywhere, in any school, more effective than this one of Dr. Marianne Marcus. She not only teaches many student nurses, she also trains selected ones to become much-needed teachers to carry the torch. In addition, her course, in great part, is fungible for educational programs on addiction in almost any milieu: e.g., schools of medicine, law, communication, and colleges and universities in general." As to what the new professorship will do for her work and for the School of Nursing, Dr. Marcus says it gives the school more visibility as a center where substance abuse education is a major focus. In this country, one in four deaths annually is attributable in some way to substance abuse, says Dr. Marcus, but despite these compelling statistics, health care professionals are not adequately educated in this area. "This is a field that has been somewhat neglected. Health care workers who care for addicted people are often stigmatized themselves. Not everyone has a positive attitude about caring for addicts. While you may have some choice about whether or not to take drugs or drink alcohol in the first place," says Dr. Marcus, "once you become addicted, you may need assistance to overcome the problem. "We believe that this is a disease process, but some people still believe that it's a volitional kind of thing - that you do it to yourself and all you have to do is make up your mind to change the addictive behavior." That's one of the reasons she became so interested in prevention. "Having worked with people in treatment, the whole notion of prevention has become very important to me." Current research that Dr. Marcus is working on includes a pilot program at the Houston and Dallas Cenikor residences testing whether mindfulness-based meditation can help keep recovering addicts on the straight-and-narrow. She is also involved in bringing a substance abuse education program to Houston-area clergy. Through the program they learn how to recognize substance abuse, where to refer members of a congregation with substance abuse problems and how to support someone from the congregation in treatment. "We're working with the Institute of Religion to write curriculum modules for clergy and programs at seminaries," Dr. Marcus says. Beyond her current work, which includes working with fellows on research studies in substance abuse prevention, Dr. Marcus has some larger dreams. "I'm going to try to develop a program for masters and doctoral students in a variety of disciplines - nursing, public health, medicine - to do prevention field work in the community." Her vision is to develop a multidisciplinary center for substance abuse education and prevention at the School of Nursing. - PAMELA LEWIS
©2006 Texas Medical Center E-Mail: tmc-info@tmc.edu URL: http://www.tmc.edu/tmcnews/09_15_99/page_11.html |
