Medical Seminar Schedule

2025 Schedule Coming Soon!

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Sunday, February 18, 2024

10:30 am - 5:30 pm                     Registration 

10:30 am - 5:30 pm                     Exhibit Hall Open

11:00 am – 12:00 pm                  Brunch with Exhibitors and Commissioners 
                                                        mimosa bar sponsors: Carolina Case Management & Carolina Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine

                                                 

12:00 pm - 12:30 pm                   Welcome & Opening Remarks    
                                                        Dewana Looper, Esq., President, SCWCEA
                                                        Atkins Law Firm, Columbia, SC

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12:30 pm – 1:30 pm                    Pain Management & Virtual Reality
                                                        Mark Pew, WorkCompCollege.com

Virtual reality is increasingly being recognized as a pain management alternative to the prescription painkillers that have caused health and financial harm to workers’ compensation  stakeholders. However, its value starts with understanding more fully how important the brain is to managing pain, from the natural process of neuroplasticity to the impacts of biopsychosocial and social determinants of health into behavior and mindset. This session will explain the process of pain, how the brain is influenced by various factors in perceiving pain, and how virtual reality can be a viable option for better outcomes.

1:30 pm – 2:30 pm                      Overview of Traumatic Brain Injury
                                                        Heather W. Walker, M.D., Encompass Rehabilitation Hospital in Charleston, SC

2:30 pm – 3:00 pm                       Networking Break with Exhibitors

3:00 pm – 4:00 pm                      Keeping Burn Cases in SC
                                                        Dr. Steven Kahn, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm                      Current Treatments for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
                                                        Dr. Gisele Girault, Pain Medicine Specialists, Fort Mill, SC

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5:00 pm – 6:00 pm                       Networking Reception / Evening Open

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Monday, February 19, 2024

8:00 am – 9:00 am                      Breakfast  sponsored by: Ambassador Service Group

8:30 am – 11:30 am                    Registration 

9:00 am – 2:30 pm                      Exhibit Hall Open

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9:00 am – 10:00 am                   Topic: Alternative Psychological Interventions
                                                       Dr. Nicholas Lind Post Trauma, Columbia, SC     
                                                       Dr. Monica Wright Post Trauma, Columbia, SC

10:00 am – 11:00 am                 Panel: Provider Issues

                                                       Commissioner Aisha Taylor, SC Workers’ Compesation Commission, Columbia, SC                      

                                                       Mike Chase, Esq., Turner Padget, Columbia, SC
                                                       Peter Leventis, Esq. Smith, Born, Leventis, Taylor & Vega, LLC, Columbia, SC
                                                       Erin Farthing, State Accident Fund, Lexington SC
                                                       Dr. Kevin Kopera, PRISMA Health, Greenville, SC
                                                       Jan Redfearn, Carolina Case Management, Greenville, SC
                                                       James A. O’Leary, M.D., Midlands Orthopaedics & Neurosurgery, Columbia, SC

11:00 am – 11:15 am                 Networking Break

11:15 am – 12:15 pm                 Panel: Provider Issues  Part II
                                                       Commissioner Aisha Taylor, SC Workers’ Compesation Commission, Columbia, SC                      

                                                       Mike Chase, Esq., Turner Padget, Columbia, SC
                                                       Peter Leventis, Esq. Smith, Born, Leventis, Taylor & Vega, LLC, Columbia, SC
                                                       Erin Farthing, State Accident Fund, Lexington SC
                                                       Dr. Kevin Kopera, PRISMA Health, Greenville, SC
                                                       Jan Redfern, Carolina Case Management, Greenville, SC
                                                       James A. O’Leary, M.D., Midlands Orthopaedics & Neurosurgery, Columbia, SC

12:15 pm – 1:15 pm                   Lunch

1:15 pm – 2:15 pm                     Innovations in Orthopedics: Ensuring Return of the Injured Worker
                                                       Dr. Greg Colbath, Spartanburg Regional Healthcare Spartanburg, SC

2:15 pm – 2:30 pm                     Networking Break    
 

2:30 pm – 3:30 pm                     Update from the SC Workers' Compensation Commission

                                                       Commissioners from the SC Workers' Compensation Commission, Columbia, SC

                                                       Gary M. Cannon, Executive Director, SC Workers' Compensation Commission, Columbia, SC

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3:30 pm                                        Closing Remarks & Adjournment

                                                        Dewana Looper, Esq., President, SCWCEA

                                                        Atkins Law Firm, Columbia, SC

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