Pulmonologist speaks at TTCS meeting

Tennessee Technology Center at Shelbyville held its General and Craft Advisory Council meetings Thursday night, with recognition of those involved in renovating the TTCS lobby, presentation of the distinguished alumnus award, and a guest speaker, Dr. Frederic Seifer, who discussed taking a proactive approach to health care.

Following a banquet and general meeting, the group broke into the individual advisory councils for each area of study at the post-secondary vocational school, which is part of the Tennessee Board of Regents system.

State Sen. Jim Tracy said that the current economy highlights the need for the type of job training offered at TTCS and its sister facilities statewide.

"There couldn't be a better time to be here at the Technology Centers," said Tracy.

The impact of the economy was especially poignant in the announcement of the Distinguished Alumni Award. Ben Beddingfield, a graduate of TTCS computer programs, was given the award, and Jones praised his support of TTCS. Beddingfield had been working at Copperweld in Fayetteville, where he had hosted TTCS students for tours and had arranged for the donation of surplus computer equipment to TTCS. But Beddingfield now finds himself laid off; Jones said he was the victim of cutbacks related to the economy.

TTCS Director Ivan Jones said that both Tracy and State Rep. Curt Cobb have been supportive of the school. He said the school has just finished spending $800,000 on new equipment for all of its instructional programs.

The school has also remodeled its lobby and entrance, including some public restrooms that he said had been virtually unchanged since the facility opened in the 1960s.

The keynote speaker for the event was Dr. Frederic Seifer, a new pulmonary specialist at Heritage Medical Center. Seifer, who moved to Shelbyville after 18 years in upper East Tennessee, stresses a preventive approach to health care, especially as it relates to smoking and obesity.

"Our health system, as it was designed in the Sixties, was designed for crisis intervention health care," he said, but it's better to prevent problems than respond to them.

Seifer said his smoking cessation program has an 85 percent success rate after six months, validated by chemical testing, not just by the word of the participants.

He said that, no matter what conditions bring a patient to his office, he will consider lifestyle issues and their overall health.

"Once you get in my garage," he said, "I'm going to open the hood and look around,"

Seifer refers to himself as "a positive deviant," a term he took from the book "Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance," by Atul Gawande. He defines it as "someone who does not accept the status quo."

Seifer said he's delighted to be at Heritage Medical Center, praising its new $52 million campus which "quite frankly, lacks for nothing." He said Bedford County is a good market in which he can practice his preventive care.

"This really is the right size canvas for me to do what I want to do," he said. "There's no reason Shelbyville can't be known for pencils, walking horses, and as a leader in health care."

Jones said that he invited Seifer to speak because Seifer's proactive approach is similar to that of TTCS. He also said that Seifer wants to be involved in speaking to nursing classes at the school.

Jones made special presentations to three persons for their work in the renovation of TTCS's lobby and restrooms: L.E. Wright of Wright Associates Technical Services, Johnnie Ray of HFR Design Inc., and Ross Bloomfield of the Tennessee Board of Regents' office of facilities development. Wright and Bloomfield were present to receive their awards.