Florida Surgeon General to Deliver Keynote Address at Nova Southeastern University Health Professions Division Commencement

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. and DAVIE, Fla., May 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida's State Surgeon General and Secretary of Health John H. Armstrong, M.D., FACS, will address degree candidates of Nova Southeastern University's (NSU) Health Professions Division (HPD) at its Commencement at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Fla., on May 18 at 1 p.m. He will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters degree as part of the ceremonies.

"Dr. Armstrong has dedicated his life to improving the health and well-being of the citizens of Florida and throughout the nation," said Fred Lippman, R.Ph., Ed.D., HPD chancellor. "As a trauma surgeon, educator, and health policy leader, he has made innovative thinking and advocacy a hallmark of his career, focusing on important areas such as performance improvement, older driver safety, and disaster readiness."

Armstrong completed his 17-year military career in 2005 as a colonel in the Army Medical Corps, serving as director of the U.S. Army Trauma Training Center in Miami. In this role, he led the development and implementation of an innovative and award-winning trauma training program for military medical units deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan.

He then served as trauma medical director at University of Florida (UF) Shands Medical Center in Gainesville, Fla., and was honored as a 2011 Exemplary Teacher at the UF College of Medicine.

Prior to his appointment as State Surgeon General and Secretary of Health for the state of Florida by Gov. Rick Scott on April 27, 2012, Armstrong was chief medical officer of the University of South Florida (USF) Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation; surgical director of the USF Health American College of Surgeons Accredited Education Institute; and associate professor of surgery, Department of Surgery, USF Morsani College of Medicine, in Tampa, Fla.

Armstrong is a graduate of Princeton University, the University of Virginia School of Medicine, and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. He completed his surgical residency at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, his trauma/surgical critical care fellowship at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital, and his master educators in medical education fellowship at UF.

Armstrong is a member of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Residency Review Committee for Surgery; co-editor of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Disaster Management and Emergency Preparedness course; and editor-in-chief of the American Medical Association (AMA) Advanced Disaster Life Support, v.3.0, course.

He has been a national leader in health policy and advocacy for more than 20 years, currently serving as chair of the ACS delegation to the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates; ACS governor for Florida; and member of the ACS Health Policy and Advocacy Group. He was the 2011 ACS/American Association for the Surgery of Trauma Health Policy scholar, and formerly served as a trustee and executive committee member of AMA.

Sunday, May 18
1 p.m.
BB&T Center | Sunrise, Fla.
Participants:
Degree candidates from NSU's Colleges of Dental Medicine, Health Care Sciences' Department of Physical Therapy, Optometry, Osteopathic Medicine, Pharmacy, and Medical Sciences.

More information on NSU's Commencement exercises can be found online at NSU Commencement 2014.

About Nova Southeastern University: Situated on 314 beautiful acres in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is a dynamic fully accredited research institution dedicated to providing high-quality educational programs at all levels.  NSU is a not-for-profit independent institution with 27,000 students. NSU awards associate's, bachelor's, master's, specialist, doctoral and first-professional degrees in a wide range of fields. NSU is classified as a research university with "high research activity" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and it is one of only 37 universities nationwide to also be awarded Carnegie's Community Engagement Classification. For more information, please visit www.nova.edu. Celebrating 50 years of academic excellence!

About the Florida Department of Health: The mission of the Florida Department of Health is to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts. For more information about the Florida Department of Health please visit www.floridahealth.gov.

SOURCE Nova Southeastern University