STATE BRIEFS OSU to begin medical residency program

OKLAHOMA CITY Registration opens for zoo's Monarch Madness

The Oklahoma City Zoo is offering an early-bird registration fee for the annual Monarch Madness 5 K/ Fun Run to benefit local monarch butterfly conservation. The cost is $30 for the 5K and $25 for the fun run until July 31. Starting Aug. 1, the fees will be $40 and $30.

The run will be Sept. 14. The 5 K course will goes through the zoo with several surprises along the way. This is an officially timed run that includes a course simulating the epic journey monarchs take from Canada to Mexico. Details and registration are available at okczoo. org/5K.

Participants will receive a T-shirt, a finisher medal, OKC Zoo Poo compost and free general admission to the zoo for the day. The 5K will begin at 7:30 a.m. and the one-mile run at 8 a.m. Check-in for both begins at 6 a.m.

Festivities continue with the Monarch Festival from 9 a.m. to noon. The goal is to educate zoo guests about the decline of monarchs and to inspire them to take action to save these iconic species by l earning how to attract them to public gardens, neighborhoods or t heir own backyard. Festival activities are free with Zoo admission.

Foundation providing additional therapy dog

The Children's Hospital at OU Medicine will get a new therapy dog to assist pediatric patients battling illnesses through a grant from The Joy in Childhood Foundation — the charitable foundation powered by Dunkin' Donuts and Ba skin-Robbins. The announcement was made Monday.

In- residence dogs are trained to do tasks like teach kids how to take a pill, keep a child calm during a medical intervention, provide incentives for a child to get out of bed for a walk, and much more.

Beginning this month, The Joy in Childhood Foundation is providing 11 service dogs to nine premier children's hospitals nationwide. The new addition to Children' s Hospital will join the three therapy dogs currently on staff — Dany, Targa and Ned.

ENID

The Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust board of directors voted Friday to expand its partnership with the Oklahoma State University Medical Authority to support the launch of medical residency training programs in Enid.

Using the remaining grant commitment balance of $2,391,294 from TSET, the OSU Medical Authority will begin a hospital residency program at St. Mary's Regional Medical Center and Integris Bass Baptist Medical Center, both in Enid.

T SE T' s funding will assist the authorit yin reaching its goal of placing residents in Oklahoma primary care programs spec ia lizin gin family medicine, pediatrics, emergency medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics andgy neco logy, and general surgery.

The residencies are expected to begin July 1, 2020, and run through June 30, 2023.