Weight Management Center offers weight loss telehealth program

It’s that time again… when springtime bestirs us to get more active and head outside, regardless of how a winter of less activity and more food may have added a few pounds to the few pounds we added the previous year – and we feel it. Enter the predictable bikini-laden ads touting effortless weight loss, be it via questionable diets, unproven over-the-counter diet pills or bizarre devices. Everything but science, professionalism and common sense.

For more than 15 years, the Medical University of South Carolina’s (MUSC) Weight Management Center (WMC) has offered its Focus program, which from its inception, became the Center’s most popular program. The WMC has now merged its effective program with the most current telehealth technology to bring it to all South Carolinians.

“We’ve had phenomenal successes through our Focus program, because it combines a partial supplement-based program with personal interaction with our registered dietitians, exercise physiologists, and behavioral specialists,” said Patrick O’Neil, Ph.D., the WMC’s director and MUSC Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences professor. “Our team offers the guidance in techniques that have been proven to be effective. All of our programs offer structured, healthy ways to lose weight and keep it off, for people with a little or a lot to lose,” he said.

The WMC has been a trusted professional weight management resource since 1974. The WMC faculty and staff have published more than 100 papers on healthy weight loss, and O’Neil is a past president of The Obesity Society, the preeminent professional and scientific group devoted to obesity. The WMC was recognized by Health magazine as one of the Top 15 medical weight management programs in the U.S., based on the input of national weight loss experts. More recently, it was designated the Best Weight Loss Center in Charleston by the Charleston City Paper. It has also been recognized nationally for its work using telehealth technology to deliver weight management services.

“This telehealth offering of the MUSC Focus program is a fantastic fit for busy, on-the-go people who might have trouble making an in-person, at-the-office style meeting,” said Josh Brown, Ph.D., the WMC’s director of clinical services and training and MUSC Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences assistant professor. “Leveraging safe, secure, and simple technology, we’re able to meet with patients throughout the state in real-time on their computers, smartphones or tablets, using the latest telehealth technology. Our hope is to reach people who don’t have access to proven weight loss programs where they live, those who can’t get to an academic medical center like ours for regular visits, and those who are simply too busy to come in. We are delighted that we’re now able to assist any South Carolinian anywhere in the state in reaching their weight loss and lifestyle goals.”

For more information about the WMC and its telehealth Focus Carolina offerings, visit www.bit.ly/FocusCarolina .

About MUSC
Founded in 1824 in Charleston, The Medical University of South Carolina is the oldest medical school in the South. Today, MUSC continues the tradition of excellence in education, research, and patient care. MUSC educates and trains more than 3,000 students and residents, and has nearly 13,000 employees, including approximately 1,500 faculty members. As the largest non-federal employer in Charleston, the university and its affiliates have collective annual budgets in excess of $1.7 billion. MUSC operates a 750-bed medical center, which includes a nationally recognized Children’s Hospital, the Ashley River Tower (cardiovascular, digestive disease, and surgical oncology), Hollings Cancer Center (one of 68 National Cancer Institute designated centers) Level I Trauma Center and Institute of Psychiatry. For more information on academic information or clinical services, visit www.musc.edu. For more information on hospital patient services, visit www.muschealth.com.