September 28, 2001
MEDIA CONTACT: Gary Stephenson
PHONE: 410-955-5384
E-MAIL: gstephenson@jhmi.edu

Johns Hopkins University Offers Mini-Med School

Get through medical school in 12 hours for less than $150? No quite, but a new program featuring leading physicians and researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine and The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health comes pretty close. Participants get eight 1.5-hour sessions with leading medical experts discussing everything from cancer to genetics to mysteries of the mind to human health and environmental change.

Developed in cooperation with The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health as part of the Odyssey Program at The Johns Hopkins University School of Professional Studies in Business and Education, the "Hopkins mini-med school provides community members and others with the knowledge they need to understand recent advances that may be crucial to their personal health," says series coordinator Neal Salomon, M.D., associate professor of surgery at Hopkins. "In addition, many people just find it fascinating to learn about what's new in medical research and health care."

The mini-med school idea has become so popular that more than 80 similar programs have sprung up across the nation, with requests for attendance far exceeding space.

"People today are thirsty for information about their own health," says Thomas Crain, director of the Odyssey program. "The pace of discovery and the proliferation of misinformation makes it difficult for most of us to get a clear sense of what is known about AIDS, heart disease, cancer and other major medical problems. In offering sophisticated information from some of Hopkins' finest, this series fills an important need and reflects the University's commitment to life-long learning."

Because the Mini-Medical School program is so popular, those interested in attending the eight sessions are urged to register early by calling 410-516-8516. The topics and speakers for individual sessions for the Mini-Medical School program are as follows:

• Oct. 2: Understanding Cancer and How to Control It. Donald S. Coffey, Ph.D., Catherine Iola and J. Smith Michael Distinguished Professor of Urology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
  
  
• Oct. 9: Genetics. George J. Dover, M.D., Given Foundation Professor and Chairman of Pediatrics, Hopkins School of Medicine.
  
  
• Oct. 16: Cardiovascular Health and Disease. Neal Salomon, M.D., Associate Professor of Surgery, Hopkins School of Medicine.
  
  
• Oct. 23: The Immune System, Friend and Foe. Robert F. Siliciano, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Medicine and Molecular Biology and Genetics, Hopkins School of Medicine.
  
  
• Oct. 30: Pharmacology and Drug Development: From Molecule to Man. Charles W. Flexner, M.D., Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Molecular Biology, Hopkins School of Medicine.
  
  
• Nov. 6: Infectious Disease: Major Advances in Research and Therapy. John G. Bartlett, M.D., Professor of Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology and Director of Infectious Diseases, Hopkins School of Medicine.
  
  
• Nov. 13: Mysteries of the Mind: J. Raymond DePaulo, Jr., M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, Hopkins School of Medicine.
  
  
• Nov. 20: Human Health and Environmental Change. Robert S. Lawrence, M.D., Edith H. Schoenrich Professor of Preventive Medicine and Associate Dean for Professional Education and Programs at the Bloomberg School of Public Health.
  
  All sessions run from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The first lecture will meet in Shaffer Hall, Room 3, at The Johns Hopkins University, Homewood campus. Subsequent lectures will be in the Shafler Auditorium at The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health building. Full-time students can attend the mini-medical program at no cost. The fee to the general public for attending all sessions is $132.
  

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