Student Tobacco Use Project Shows Outstanding Early Results
NSU’s Student Tobacco Use Education and Prevention Project is a product of many outstanding students, faculty, academic, and community partners who have worked so diligently and effectively to develop and implement the project.
This project has been designed to promote community awareness of the immense importance of tobacco cessation and prevention by utilizing teams of dedicated students from the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine’s many health professions training programs to develop a series of monthly social media posts and emails focusing on the deleterious health impact of tobacco use.
Toward this end, eight sets of posts were developed and disseminated on our AHEC Facebook Page, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter accounts during the initial phase of our pilot period. This monthly series of posts highlighted the impact of tobacco use on health areas such as: (1) Oral Cancer; (2) Lung Cancer; (3) Cardiovascular Disease; (4) Other Cancers; (5) Emphysema and Chronic Lung Disease; and (6) Reproductive and Pregnancy Complications. Two additional sets of posts were also developed and disseminated, including: (7) The Impact of Tobacco Use on Poor COVID Outcomes; and (8) a special Video Posting also focusing on Tobacco and Cancer. To assure for maximum spread of these social media messages throughout the community, we developed a Founders Group (recently renamed our Tobacco Champions Circle) to support and disseminate these monthly sets of posts.
Our early results are outstanding and well beyond our initial expectations. Our Tobacco Champions Circle has already grown to more than 250 individuals and community organizations. Our posts have already had more than 150,000 views and several thousand engagements (e.g., likes, comments, shares). In addition, many major organizations have learned about our Group Tobacco Cessation Services from these posts and are now interested in bringing these services to their patients, clients, and employees.
A new set of student teams will be developing posts highlighting the impact of tobacco use on health areas such as (1) Diabetes; (2) Rheumatoid Arthritis; (3) Ocular Disease; (4) Wellness; and (5) Tobacco Use in the LGBTQ Community. A sixth team will focus on designing special holiday posts such as “New Year’s Resolutions to Quit Smoking” and/or an “All I Want for Christmas is For You to Stop Smoking” appeal.
“As we continue in this second phase of our pilot period, we want to thank you and all of the many fine members of our Champions Circle for all of your ongoing support and efforts to date,” said Steven B. Zucker, D.M.D, M.Ed., Director of the Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Program. “We hope that you and everyone in our Champions Circle takes enormous pride in what you have already helped achieve; and we certainly look forward to continue working with you on this important mission going forward.”
Posted 04/10/22
Do you do neuroscience or related work? Want to connect with other NSU researchers and practitioners doing similar work? Sign up to be a “Presenter” (brief 3-minute presentation) at this upcoming collaboration event to be held Monday, March 7, from noon to 1 p.m. via Zoom (registration due Feb. 14): https://tinyurl.com/Neuro-Present22. Not interested in presenting but still want to listen in, with the option to chat during breakout sessions? Please forward this invite to colleagues! Contact 
We invite you to attend this interactive event featuring two successful research groups sharing their collaboration stories. This “Keys to Successful Research Collaborations” event will occur on Monday, February 7, from noon to 1:30 p.m. via Zoom.
The Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine’s venerable COM Outlook magazine received first-place honors in both the Magazine and Periodicals and the Writing categories at the Public Relations Society of America Tampa Bay PRestige Awards ceremony held November 3. The PRestige Awards recognize outstanding public relations programs and tactics by Florida practitioners and organizations and is open to both PRSA members and nonmembers.
NSU University School congratulates the outstanding Upper School students who have been selected to participate in the 2021-22 NSU Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine (KPCOM) Fellowship.
Join the Nova Southeastern University Lifelong Learning Institute (LLI) for Fall Welcome Week at the LLI, October 4-7, on Zoom for a live, interactive, social-learning environment.