Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine

  • BSSM Hosting Community Rounds Focusing on Rare Diseases

    BSSM resumes its Community Rounds series with “Highlighting Pediatric Rare Diseases and Community Impacts” on April 3, from 12pm - 1pm EST. The virtual panel of participants includes Pradeep Bhide, Director of the Florida State University Institute for Pediatric Rare Diseases, Michele Holbrook, 2023 National Ambassador for the Children's Tumor Foundation, and Yang Hou, Assistant Professor in FSU College of Medicine Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine.

    Community Rounds Registration

  • Flynn unites minds at the 10th ISIPT Conference to Combat Mental Health Crisis

    BSSM Department Chair Heather Flynn, and President of the International Society for Interpersonal Psychotherapy (ISIPT), hosted the 10th Biennial ISIPT Conference in Newcastle UK this week. Interpersonal psychotherapy is an evidence-based treatment for mental health disorders being used around the world. Over 200 participants from 32 countries shared information on research and treatment to help combat the global mental health crisis.

    Conference Highlights

  • ACTS2 Behavioral Skills Training and Hospice Services Workshops

    The ACTS2 Caregiver Project will hold two educational workshops in Tallahassee covering “Behavioral Skills Training and Hospice Services in Caring for Loved Ones With Dementia,” on March 9, from 10am – 12:30pm EST at Concord AME Church, and March 23, from 11:00am – 1:30pm EST at Philadelphia Primitive Baptist Church. There is no cost to attend, and lunch will be provided.

    ACTS2 Workshop Flyers

  • Deichen Discusses Perinatal Mental Health Equity at Grand Rounds Lecture

    BSSM Researcher Megan Deichen Hansen, Ph.D., presented a Grand Rounds lecture at the Harvard Medical School discussing “Perinatal Psychiatry Access Programs: An Innovative Tool for Perinatal Mental Health Equity.” Deichen Hansen’s talk focused on the contemporary landscape of maternal mental health inequities, gaps in care along the mental healthcare pathway, and strategies for promoting equitable outcomes using a perinatal integrated care model.

    Perinatal Psychiatry Lecture

  • MacDonnel Thai Collaboration

    MacDonnel Thai Collaboration Seeks to Innovate HIV Prevention

    BSSM Associate Professor Karen MacDonell, along with scholars Bo Wang, and Nittaya Phanuphak are co-leading multiple NIH-funded projects focused on HIV prevention in vulnerable groups of young adults in Bangkok, Thailand. Recently, U.S. investigators worked with the Thai team at IHRI and were able to tour multiple clinical partner sites in the Bangkok area. If successful, this collaboration will result in mobile, technology-based intervention tools that IHRI and other clinical partner sites can offer to young adult patients to manage their health and reduce the risk of HIV.

  • The Legacy of Dr. Norman Anderson

    The BSSM community is saddened by the loss of Dr. Norman Anderson.

    Read about his immense legacy

  • AHEC Hosting Tobacco Education Conference

    College of Medicine’s Area Health Education Center will hold a Tobacco Education Conference on May 16-17, at the Key West Marriot Beachside Hotel. Registration for the conference will include a fee of $185. AHEC encourages individuals who wish to receive education on prevention of tobacco usage to sign-up for the conference on its website before registration closes on April 30th.

    AHEC Conference Registration

  • ACTS2 Hosting Workshop on Sleep Difficulties in Dementia Care

    The ACTS2 Caregiver Project will hold a workshop titled, "Managing Sleep Difficulties in Caring for a Loved One with Dementia: Strategies for Success," on March 21, from 7pm - 8:15pm EST on Facebook Live. Caregivers of loved ones with dementia are encouraged to mark the workshop in their calendar and attend digitally on ACTS2’s Facebook page.

    ACTS2 Workshop

  • Nair-Collins urges adhering to the legal definition of death in diagnosis of brain death

    BSSM Associate Professor Michael Nair-Collins, Ph.D., recently published an article that questions how the legal definition of death is commonly interpreted in relation to brain death. Nair-Collins argues that the evaluation for brain death should require assessment for loss of hormonal secretion from the pituitary gland and hypothalamus to fit the current guidelines of the Uniform Determination of Death Act.

    Nair-Collins' Article

  • Epstein’s Latest Collaboration Enhances Cognitive Information Processing

    FSU College of Medicine BSSM faculty librarian Susan Epstein showcased her expertise as the lead-chapter author of an open-access textbook titled "Cognitive Information Processing: Career Theory, Research, and Practice." This collaborative endeavor with other FSU scholars seeks to enhance the integration of Cognitive Information Processing theory, research, and practice, with the goal of enabling individuals to make informed and deliberate career choices.

    Cognitive Information Processing Textbook

  • Gabriel discusses the Crisis of American Pharmacy during 1918-1942

    In November 2023, FSU College of Medicine BSSM Associate Professor Joe Gabriel, Ph.D., delivered a lecture at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Boston titled “Proprietary Medicines and the Crisis of American Pharmacy, 1918-1942.” Gabriel’s talk focused on how the increased sale of proprietary medicines led to a professional crisis among pharmacists related to their loss of autonomy, economic instability, and increased legal jeopardy and their response to the situation.

    Gabriel's Lecture

 

 

OUR VISION

 

The Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine will transform behavioral and person centered science and scholarship in 21st century medical education - facilitating improvements in the health and well-being of individuals, their communities, and especially the underserved.

 

OUR MISSION

 

 

The Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine investigates and emphasizes the influence of individual, interpersonal, and community factors on health, in the context of behavior, social, and societal forces. Our work integrates community partnership with principles and methods from the behavioral and social sciences and bioethics to promote health, especially for the underserved. This is demonstrated through:

 

 

 

 

Practice based teaching and training in bioethical and biopsychosocial aspects of health.

 

 

 

 

Conducting cutting edge interdisciplinary research and scholarship that generates knowledge leading to improvements in interventions, healthcare practice, and health outcomes.

 

 

 

Service activities that support and advance our professions and improve health for individuals and communities.

 

 

 

 

 

DEPARTMENT SPOTLIGHT