Dr. Martha Colvin Lecture Series on Mental Health, February 16th at 6 PM

The Dr. Marth Colvin Lecture Series on Mental Health is this Thursday evening. All faculty, staff, students and community members are invited to attend. Refreshments will be available before the lecture. We are encouraging everyone to have questions ready for the guest speaker.

• What:    Martha Colvin Lecture Series on Mental Health
• When:   Thursday, Feb. 16 at 6 pm
• Where:  Peabody Auditorium
• Who:     Dr. Scott Van Sant
• Topic:    Strategies to Strengthen Our Mental Health Post Pandemic

Scott Van Sant, MD, PC, obtained his medical degree from the University of South Florida and completed his psychiatry residency training at Emory University in Atlanta. He is board-certified in general adult and forensic psychiatry.

He has spent his entire career in the public sector behavioral health field, including formerly serving as medical director of DeKalb Crisis Center in Atlanta, Georgia; chief medical officer of Central State Hospital in Milledgeville, Georgia; medical director of Augusta University's adult and geriatric inpatient psychiatric units; and associate training director of Medical College of Georgia's general psychiatry residency training program.

Presently, he is the Clinical Director of Benchmark Human Services Georgia Crisis Programs, which provides emergency mobile crisis interventions for individuals with mental health disorders and developmental disabilities in Georgia.

His professional interests include psychopharmacology, treatment of persons with chronic severe mental illness, management of co-occurring psychiatric and intellectual disabilities, and improving mental health delivery systems. Scott has been on the COHS Leadership Board since 2019.

This lecture series was established by the College of Health Sciences administration, faculty and staff in honor of Dr. Martha Colvin for her 25 years of service with distinction as a nurse educator, nursing administrator and associate dean of the College of Health Sciences.

In 1988, Dr. Colvin brought with her to Georgia College & State University a wealth of academic preparation, clinical expertise, and seven years of college-level teaching experience. Her initial assignment as a faculty member in the School of Nursing was as a psychiatric and mental health clinical nurse specialist in the Department of Family Health.

In 1997, she was appointed Chair of the Department of Family Health. In 2009 she was appointed Associate Dean of the College of Health Sciences, and during her tenure, she was an active member of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI). She worked tirelessly as an advocate for the mentally ill.

In December 2013, Dr. Colvin retired with professor emeritus status from Georgia College and currently resides in Chattanooga, TN.