Health Communication Position at UT-Austin

This came through the NCA Health Communication mailing list, so I wanted to post it here, too...

The Department of Communication Studies at the University of Texas at Austin invites applications for a senior faculty member (senior associate or full professor) to teach and conduct research on topics broadly related to interpersonal issues involved in health communication. The appointment will begin in August, 2009. The position requires a Ph.D., a record of scholarly publications and teaching experience. Applicants should be interested in doing field-based or experimental studies in areas such as adherence and more broadly influence in health-related contexts, health promotions, social support, coping, clinical decision-making, relational issues associated with health, conflict-related health issues, and doctor-patient communication. Applicants for this position should have a record of securing and completing funded research. In addition to teaching graduate seminars, the ability to teach large undergraduate lecture classes on health communication-related topics will be a plus. Applications should include curriculum vitae, copies of selected publications, and three letters of recommendation. Materials should be sent to John Daly, Search Committee Chair, University of Texas at Austin, Department of Communication Studies, 1 University Station A1105, Austin, TX 78712. The committee will begin considering candidates on September 1, 2008, and continue until a candidate is chosen. The College of Communication is committed to achieving diversity in its faculty, students, and curriculum, and it welcomes applicants who can help achieve these objectives.

Return of a Killer: Tuberculosis in Russia

Scientific American's weekly podcast always has something good going on, but I thought this week's feature on tuberculosis in Russia was particulaly interesting. One aspect of the story that was quite new to me was directly observed therapy, which requires healthcare professionals (or neighbors) actually observe people taking their medications every day. It's a very labor-intensive model, but necessary when (1) people might still be sick even after the most obvious symptoms have gone away and (2) medications have serious side effects. They discussed the fact that relatives aren't ideal for helping with directly observed therapy, because patients can often exert enough interpersonal pressure that they relative won't really make sure they take their meds.

In any event, it's a good feature, and the little science quiz at the end is (as always) entertaining, too.

The Evidence Gap: Drug Makers’ Push Leads to Cancer Vaccines’ Rise

There was a great article a few days ago in The New York Times about the marketing efforts behind HPV vaccines. It presents a variety of viewpoints regarding the costs and benefits of Gardasil and Cervarix, and the general point of the article seems to be that strong marketing campaigns have resulted in an over-emphasis on these vaccines as a public health priority.

For anyone with an interst in DTC advertising of prescription drugs, it's definitely worth a look. These vaccines present an interesting context for the balance between marketing and sales objectives (which is obviously important for the pharma companies and their agencies) and the public health benefits inherent in such campaigns. It's certainly a messy discussion, and I have to wonder if it's going to come up in debates between Obama and McCain. Given their different viewpoints on healthcare in general, I have to imagine they might have some different views on DTC pharma advertising... Hopefully we'll get to hear about their thoughts on this as part of the bigger discussion about how to fix the U.S. healthcare system.

Back to Blogging

I wasn't writing much here over the summer, as I was busy working on research projects and trying to tie up loose ends on a number of different articles that had been sitting on my desk at the end of the spring semester. With the start of the fall semester, I figured it's time to get back to work here, too...

Two interesting notes...

First, this blog was featured by Online Nursing Degree Guide's listing of self-improvement blogs. There are some other interesting blogs on that list that I'm going to have to start paying attention to, too. It's worth looking through the list to dig up some other solid reading material.

Second, I'm going to be teaching a course for freshmen this fall titled "Health Communication in the Media." The class is part of an increased push at UT to provide talented incoming freshmen with strong foundations in basic college skills - critical thinking, writing, presenting, media literacy, etc. I think that health communication and the current media environment should provide an interesting context for developing those skills, so I'm quite excited about that.

More to come...