This month, the Young Health Professionals Society (YHPS) highlights a member interview with Ilene Tsui, upcoming events in the DC metro area, professional development tips, and more!

Celebrate Your Health

American Heart Month – It was estimated that in 2010 heart disease costs the United States $316.4 billion in health care services, medication and lost productivity. Learn what you can do to keep your heart healthy during American Heart Month.

National Wear Red Day – Did you know that heart disease is the number one killer of women? On Friday, February 4, join the campaign to teach women to turn personal choices into lifesaving actions by wearing red. To learn more about how you can get involved in this movement, visit Go Red for Women.

National Wise Health Consumer Month - Take control of your health during National Wise Health Consumer Month. The goal of this month is to teach consumers how to be more involved with their own health care. Learn how your company can help employees become wise health consumers.

Professional Development

Professional development should be taken from a holistic approach. If you don’t take care of yourself how can you take care of other people? So this month think about focusing on self-care, specifically heart health awareness.

1. Learn about eating right at the Heart Healthy Eating seminar February 3, 2011 1:30-2:30pm at Sibley Memorial Hospital.
2. Attend Heart Health Screening and Education Day February 12, 2011 10am-2pm at Holy Cross Hospital.

Once you have taken care of yourself it’s time to look at how to help other individuals. You can start by attending the 2011 Annual Conference, “Achieving Health of Individuals and Populations Within Their Communities” February 24-25, 2011.

Get Involved

February is Heart Health Awareness Month. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States for both men and women and coronary heart disease is the most common type of heart disease. In addition to the high risk of mortality, heart disease has a high cost in health care services, medications, and lost productivity. Risk factors for heart disease include obesity, inactivity, high blood pressure, and cigarette smoking. The American Heart Association (AHA) aims to decrease the incidence of heart disease in the United States through education, outreach, advocacy, and research. You can support the AHA’s efforts to end heart disease by joining the You’re the Cure Network of AHA advocates. Through emails, phone calls, letters to the editor, press events, and face-to-face meetings with decision makers, You’re the Cure advocates assist in AHA’s policy efforts in support of heart health. Find out more at www.yourethecure.org.

What’s New in Social Media and Technology

Social Media's Impact in Images
Sometimes it's hard to understand the true impact of social media in our everyday lives. Recently a group of studies from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project presented some interesting findings that help to paint that picture. In its Generations Online 2010 study, Pew outlines how Internet users of different ages tap into new technologies -- for example, searching for health information is the third-most popular activity for all ages. Separately, in its examination of Twitter, Pew found 25% of users use it regularly throughout the day.

While this information is great for background or to be included in your own research, it may be hard for those not as engaged in new technologies to comprehend. Now, two enterprising graphic designers have taken this powerful data and created a pair of fascinating, eye-catching photo-illustrations that are easy for everyone to understand. Check them out here and consider sharing with your colleagues: [Who’s Using Twitter And How They’re Using It][How Does Age Affect Web Use?]

What’s Happening?

2011 Be Fit McLean! Outdoor Adventure and Fitness Expo – Join REI on Saturday, February 26th to explore fun opportunities for outdoor activities. From trail-running to geo-caching, sky to scuba diving, dog packing to llama trekking, Dutch Oven cooking contest to cooking demos, this expo will have it all including an adaptive sports component with Team River Runner.

1K Wine Walk – Research shows that wine is linked to heart health. Put your sneakers on and get moving on Saturday, February 26th for the Crystal City 1K Wine Walk.

Member Interview

Recently, the Young Health Professionals Society (YHPS) spoke with Ilene Tsui to discuss her professional experiences and work at the Advisory Board Company, a leading provider of comprehensive performance improvement services to the health care and education sectors. Learn more about her role in helping hospitals and health systems with capital and strategic planning initiatives, specifically related to diagnostic imagining investments. Read More.


-YHPS Communications Committee
www.yhps.org
The Young Health Professionals Society (YHPS) is a new professional and social organization dedicated to serving young professionals in all areas of the health sector. Meet professionals in advocacy, clinical research, health communication, health finance, health promotion & prevention, healthcare technology, and more! We are currently serving the Greater Washington D.C. Metro Area.