Healthcare professionals and clergy are invited to a free seminar on alcoholism Saturday, Oct. 27, at Western Baptist Hospital.
 
Burns M. Brady, M.D., medical director of the Kentucky Physicians Health Foundation Impaired Physicians Program, will speak on “Alcoholism: The Disease -- Call It What It Is.”

Brady, a board-certified family physician and addictionologist, is a clinical instructor on alcoholism for medical schools at the University of Louisville, University of Kentucky and Pikeville. He is an addiction consultant for a 400-bed homeless shelter, The Healing Place, recognized as one of the top five in the U.S.

Cardiologist Patrick Withrow, M.D., medical director of the Baptist Heart Center, said the hospital is hosting the event to raise awareness for attendees and the public. "The disease of alcoholism and substance abuse is a huge and ever-growing problem among all walks of life," he said. "The more we can acknowledge and understand it, the more success we will have at preventing and treating it."

Invited are area physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, substance abuse counselors, social workers, pharmacists and clergy. Credit is available for different groups, including five hours for physicians and six hours for nurses.

The event will be 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Baptist Heart Center auditorium, with check-in at 8:30 a.m. Space is limited, so participants are asked to register by Oct. 15 by phoning (270) 575-2723.