Thousands of students attended Education Day at the Gwinnett Braves' Coolray Field. Photo by William Lofton, Gwinnett Braves.

From the first pitch to the last inning, there was a huge crowd at the Gwinnett Braves' 2013 Education Day. Although the Gwinnett Braves lost to the Pawtucket Red Sox with a final score of 14 to 9, it was a perfect game day for the Georgia SHAPE exhibit.

The exhibit, part of Georgia SHAPE, Gov. Nathan Deal's statewide initiative to combat childhood obesity, offers several physical activities, along with health and fitness education for children.

Registered nurse Sandee Simmons, nurse coordinator for Children's Medical Services (CMS) in South Health District 8-1, based in Valdosta, discusses telemedicine at a CDC nursing symposium.

Public health has changed the way Sandee Simmons approaches her patients as a registered nurse.

Simmons, who began her career as a pediatric nurse in the hospital setting, is now nurse coordinator for Children's Medical Services (CMS) in South Health District 8-1, based in Valdosta.

Public health employee Albert Wright, center, with Rollins School of Public Health Dean James Curran, M.D., and DPH Commissioner Brenda Fitzgerald, M.D.

Two Georgia public health employees were among the graduates celebrating their achievements at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health on May 13.

Albert Wright, emergency preparedness administrator for Fulton County Department of Health Services, and Greg Bautista, project coordinator for the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance at the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH), earned their Master of Public Health (MPH) degrees from the school. Both participated in the Career MPH program, a distance learning career master's program for public health professionals.

Actress Angelina Jolie authored an opinion piece in the New York Times about her choice to have a prophylactic mastectomy to reduce her risk of breast cancer.  Ms. Jolie says her family and genetic history gave her an 87% risk of having breast cancer, and that the surgery reduced that risk to under 5%. She says she chose "not to keep my story private because there are many women who do not know that they might be living under the shadow of cancer. It is my hope that they, too, will be able to get gene tested, and that if they have a high risk they, too, will know that they have strong options."

We asked Otis W. Brawley, M.D., chief medical officer, for his reaction to the piece.

On an evening in 1998 when I got word from my doctor about my diagnosis, I had already planned to go roller skating with my family. I decided not to change my plans. But I remember feeling "shell-shocked" and very alone in that rink full of people that night.

I had been really tired for weeks on end and one weekend I practically slept for two straight days. That is what prompted my visit to my doctor and he was smart enough to order a test, even though that was not routine at the time.