Many people can conduct health seminars, or write books on health, but very few can make them both thoroughly informative and entertaining. Barb Bancroft makes complex health topics easily understandable, appealing and hilarious.

Barb has provided more than 1,800 continuing education seminars on topics pertaining to pathophysiology, physical assessment, and pharmacology to health care professionals throughout the United States and Canada. She has been the keynote speaker for the Association of Practitioners for Infection Control (APIC), the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT), the National Association of Orthopedic Nurses (NAON), the National Association of Emergency Nurses, American Association of Spinal Cord Injury Nurses and the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners .

She has held faculty positions at the University of Virginia, the University of Arkansas, Loyola University of Chicago, and St. Xavier University of Chicago. She has provided courses on Advanced Pathophysiology, Pharmacology and Physical Assessment to graduate and undergraduate students. She is currently the executive director of a continuing education firm for health care professionals.

Programs
• Neuro-for-the-Not-So-Neuro-Minded : A one-day seminar that can make Neurology easy, fun and understandable. For starters, a little neuroembryology will explain the various effects that teratogens (cocaine, alcohol, cigarette smoking, excess sugar, and hyperthermia) have on the developing brain. Delve into the origins of schizophrenia and the concept of “pruning”. Understand the functions of important neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, norepi­nephrine, and GABA. Correlate the various drugs (legal and not-so-legal) with neurotransmitter deficiencies and excesses. Realize that the gender differences in the prevalence of depression begin during puberty and the response to depression is gender-based. Important clinical conditions to be discussed include seizure disorders, “brain attacks”, acute head injuries, and more. Pharmacologic treatment of various conditions will also be emphasized.

• Shampoos, Tattoos, and Barbeques : This one-day seminar provides an up-to-the minute overview and update on current issues in the world of infectious diseases. New vaccines, new diseases, new drugs!! Barb covers the eight trends observed including global warming and travel, bioterrorism, food-borne illnesses, and infectious agents and their relationship to acute and chronic disease. Learn about why picnics can be hazardous to your health, how many diseases can be transmitted via tattooing, how long a tick has to be attached before you can acquire Lyme disease, how infectious agents may be implicated in cardiovascular disease and autoimmune diseases...and more!

• The Aging Heart : This one-day seminar discusses the normal anatomic and physiologic changes that occur with the aging cardiovascular system. The discussion also includes the important components of the history and physical exam used in assessing the older patient with cardiovascular disease. The patho-physiology of the following common clinical conditions will also be discussed as will their clinical manifestations: Hypertension, Congestive Heart Failure, Valvular Heart Disease, Coronary Artery Disease. Peripheral Vascular Disease and Cor Pulmonale. A major component of the lecture will be spent discussing the pharmacologic management of the above conditions.