The Grand Bahamas Medical and Dental Association will host the 16th Annual Scientific Educational Conference at the Pelican Bay Hotel in Port Lucaya from Thursday, September 29th to Saturday, October 1st. The theme for this year is the “Emerging Trends in Medicine,” where Dr. Dean Hertzler, pediatric neurosurgeon, and Dr. Michel Velez, hematologist and oncologist from Memorial Healthcare System will be accompanied by many others colleagues in order to share and discuss the new advancements in each of their specialties.
Dr. Hertzler will be discussing the “Surgical Management of Cerebral Palsy and Spasticity: Beyond Medical Management Alone.” Cerebral palsy is a number of disorders of the developing brain affecting body movement, posture and muscle coordination. It can be caused by damage to one or more specific areas of the brain, usually occurring during fetal development; before, during or shortly after birth; during infancy; or during early childhood.
“At this time, there is no cure for the developmental brain damage that causes cerebral palsy. Training and therapy, however, can help improve muscle function and coordination. Studies have also found that children who receive early intervention services such as physical and occupational therapy and other support services are more likely to lead a more typical and improved quality of life,” explained Dr. Hertzler.
As for Dr. Michel Velez, his discussion is titled “BRCA Gene Mutant Breast Cancer: New Therapies and Its Relevance to theBahamian Population”. Since breast cancer is the most common form of cancer affecting women in the Bahamas, he will be explaining neoadjuvant therapy, a treatment used as the first step to shrink a tumor before surgery. This type of chemotherapy has its benefits, as it may reduce the tumor in order to be removed by a less extensive surgery. In addition, when administering chemotherapy before removing the tumor, doctors can better assess how the tumor responds.
“We are in the era of personalized medicine, in which therapies are aimed at molecular alterations of cancer in each particular patient,” stated Dr. Michel Velez.
With the conference just around the corner, Dr. Monique Pratt, current President of the Grand Bahamas Medical and Dental Association stated: “The associations goals remain the same. The improvement of health care in Grand Bahamas, the promotion of health lifestyle in the community and the continuing medical education of our members.”
About Dr. Dean A. Hertzler, MD: A graduate of Indiana University School of Medicine, Dr. Dean Hertzler completed his internship in surgery and residency in neurosurgery at the University of Cincinnati. He completed his fellowship in pediatric neurosurgery at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, one of the largest fellowship programs in pediatric neurosurgery in the United States. He performed more than 1,000 pediatric neurosurgical procedures annually. Prior to medical school and his neurosurgical residency, Dr. Hertzler was a research, laboratory and teaching assistant at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, where he received numerous academic scholarships and awards.
About Dr. Michel Velez, MD: Dr. Michel Velez is a board-certified hematologist/oncologist. Dr. Velez earned his medical degree from the Universidad del Norte, Colombia in 2000, after which he became involved in breast cancer research as a research associate at the Cancer Research Network and, subsequently, at Memorial Cancer Institute. He then went on to complete his internal medicine internship and residency at the University of Miami/Miller School of Medicine at JFK Medical Center and Veterans Affairs Medical Center Regional Campus, West Palm Beach. He completed his hematology-oncology fellowship at Jackson Memorial Hospital/University of Miami/Miller School of Medicine in 2014, where he served as chief fellow.
Dr. Velez has served as research associate in multiple clinical trials for the treatment of breast cancer, which ultimately have led to the approval of new therapies that have helped change the treatment of this disease.
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