August 24, 2007

Contact:
Ken Ma
NSU Office of Public Affairs
954-262-5354 Office
954-830-4177 Cell
kennma@nova.edu

Assistant Surgeon General Michael Milner to speak at Nova Southeastern University’s Commencement About Obesity

Fort Lauderdale, FL ---- Assistant Surgeon General Michael Milner will be the keynote speaker during Nova Southeastern University’s College of Allied Health and Nursing’s commencement ceremony on Sunday, Aug. 26.

The ceremony will be take place at 2 p.m. inside the arena of NSU’s University Center. More than 500 graduates will earn degrees in nursing, audiology, physician assistant, physical therapy, occupational therapy, health sciences and vascular sonography.

Milner, who is a rear admiral, earned his doctorate in health science from NSU this year.

In his position as Assistant Surgeon General, Milner is responsible for six New England states, include Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. He also works closely with the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response to provide regional leadership for emergency planning, preparedness and response to public-health emergencies.

Milner will talk about obesity. He believes obesity and overweight are the most significant health issues.

“They have so many negative health consequences and impacts lives in so many negative ways,” he said. Obesity “has tremendous long term health and social consequences for our children. The number of children with obesity related diabetes continues to climb. It has significant emergency preparedness consequences for us as a nation, since decreasing fitness levels may soon be seen in our nations future first responders, like police officers, firefighters, EMS responders and military recruits.”

Milner said the economic consequences to our nation are staggering and we can not sustain the growth in health care spending for obesity related disease management.

“We need a fundamental paradigm shift to support insurer payment for prevention services for healthy weight management, proper nutrition and fitness education, as well as other personal behavior and lifestyle choices like smoking, risky sexual behavior and substance abuse prevention,” he said.

In April, Milner was appointed to serve as one of five national Pandemic Influenza Senior Federal Health Officials by the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Health. He is currently the only physician assistant with this designation.

About Nova Southeastern University: Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale is the largest independent institution of higher education in the Southeast, and it is the 6th largest independent institution nationally. NSU awards associate’s, bachelor's, master's, educational specialist, doctoral, and first-professional degrees in a wide range of fields. The university is comprised of undergraduate, graduate and professional schools of osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, optometry, allied health and nursing, medical sciences, dental medicine, law, marine biology and oceanography, business and entrepreneurship, computer and information sciences, humanities, conflict resolution, family therapy, interdisciplinary studies, education, psychology and counseling, and family programs. www.nova.edu