UCSF Invites the San Francisco Community to Attend First-Ever Campus Mini Medical School

Business Wire, August 16, 1999

SAN FRANCISCO--(BW HealthWire)--Aug. 13, 1999--

What new category of adult education is drawing crowds all over the country, with classes ranging from 250 to 600 people and waiting lists of up to 1,300?

What classes attended by adults after a full day's work generate this level of excitement, "I'm on fire about this stuff" and "I only wish it had lasted twice as long?"

It's the Mini Medical School. In October, San Francisco residents will be able to attend Mini Medical School classes when a dozen of the University of California, San Francisco's best teachers -- those who are on the front lines of the health sciences and passionate about their work, those who are honored as outstanding teachers by their students will illuminate for the general public the basic science underlying human health.

This will be a unique opportunity -- the first time UCSF experts from the Schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy will address in a classroom setting the public's curiosity about the science behind the health information in the morning paper and on the evening news.

"These are no ordinary teachers," said Shelley Chu, a fourth year medical student in the MD/PhD program at UCSF. "They speak in plain English, focus on core concepts and use stories, dramatization and humor to get their points across. They would be my top candidates for a Who's Who of Great Science Communicators."

Experts for the first UCSF Mini Medical School include the following:

UCSF Chancellor and Nobel Prize winner J. Michael Bishop, who co-discovered the genes and the processes that cause cancer, will discuss "Opening the Black Box of Cancer" on October 27.

Warren Levinson, author of the best-selling microbiology textbook in the country, will discuss infectious disease in his November 10 class titled "Emerging Viruses: Killers from the 'Hot Zone'." Levinson was recognized recently by the 1999 graduating medical school class for excellence in teaching.

Neurology professor and series moderator Daniel Lowenstein, the recipient of numerous teaching honors from national organizations and from UCSF students, will describe "The Ever-Changing Brain: Its Form, Function and Quest for Knowledge" on October 6.

Renowned pain researcher Allan Basbaum, named by his students 1999 Outstanding Lecturer, will describe "Where Pain Comes From and How We Can Make It Go Away" on October 13.

Other classes in the six session series will take students behind the scenes of cancer, pain, ulcer disease, asthma, heart disease and how drugs are designed. Two topics will be presented at each class meeting.

The Mini Medical School concept was pioneered at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver in 1990, and has appeared since then in similar forms at the National Institutes of Health and at health sciences universities in New York City and other communities across the country with outstanding success.

Classes, to be held on successive Wednesday nights from October 6 through November 10, will be interactive, with a lively question-and-answer session following each lecture. Students will not be required to do homework, write papers or take exams. Those who attend all six sessions will receive an honorary diploma.

The series is open to anyone interested in learning more about the concepts and processes of human health and biology. Space is limited, and registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

Classes will be held in Cole Hall on UCSF's campus, 513 Parnassus, from 7 to 9 p.m.

Registration by mail simply requires submitting your name, address, city, state and zip code plus daytime phone, email and/or fax. The fee, payable when registering, is $40 for the series of six classes; registration for individual classes cannot be accepted. Parking is available on the street or in the campus garage at $2.25 per hour after 5:00 p.m.

Registration information and checks, made payable to UC Regents, may be sent to UCSF Mini Medical School, Public Affairs, Box 0462, San Francisco, CA 94143. For directions, registration and parking information, call 415/476-2557.

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UCSF MINI MEDICAL SCHOOL: SCHEDULE OF CLASSES

OCTOBER 6, 1999

7:00 - 8:00 PM: The Musculoskeletal System
"How We Use Anatomy To Diagnose an Injured Joint or a Pinched Nerve"
Hugh "Pat" Patterson, PhD
Adjunct Professor of Anatomy

8:00 - 9:00 PM: The Brain
 "The Ever-Changing Brain: Its Form, Function and Quest for Knowledge"
Daniel H. Lowenstein, MD
Professor of Neurology

OCTOBER 13, 1999

7:00 - 8:00 PM:  Stress and Health
 "The Effect of Stress on Human Health"
Nancy E. Adler, PhD
Professor and Vice Chair of Psychiatry
Director, Center for Health and Community

8:00 - 9:00 PM: Pain
 "Where Does Pain Come From and How Can We Make it Go Away?"
Allan I. Basbaum, PhD
Professor and Chair of Anatomy
Professor of Physiology
Member, W.M. Keck Foundation Center for Integrative Neuroscience

OCTOBER 20, 1999

7:00 - 8:00 PM: The Gastrointestinal System
"The GI Tract: From Indigestion to Ulcers"
Kenneth R. McQuaid, MD
Associate Professor of Clinical Gastroenterology

8:00 - 9:00 PM: Therapeutic Uses of Drugs
 "The Use of Computers to Help Design Better Pharmaceuticals"
Peter A. Kollman, PhD
Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Associate Dean
School of Pharmacy

OCTOBER 27, 1999

7:00 - 8:00 PM: Cancer
"Opening the Black Box of Cancer"
J. Michael Bishop, MD
UCSF Chancellor, Nobel Laureate, and Cancer Researcher

8:00 - 9:00 PM: Epidemiology
"What We Have Learned from Population Studies About Lung and Breast
Cancers" Virginia L. Ernster, PhD
Professor and Vice Chair of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Associate Director for Epidemiology, Prevention and Control, UCSF
Cancer Center

NOVEMBER 3, 1999

7:00 - 8:00 PM: The Respiratory System
"How We Breathe and the Breathlessness of Asthma"
Homer A. Boushey, Jr., MD
Professor of Medicine and Chief, Division of Allergy and Immunology
Director, UCSF Asthma Clinical Research Center

8:00 - 9:00 PM:  The Endocrine System
"Command and Control of Body Function in Health and Disease"
Vishwanath Lingappa, MD, PhD
Professor of Physiology and Medicine

NOVEMBER 10, 1999

7:00 - 8:00 PM:  Infectious Disease
"Emerging Viruses: Killers from the 'Hot Zone'"
Warren E. Levinson, MD, PhD
Professor of Microbiology and Immunology

8:00 - 9:00 PM: The Heart
"Affairs of the Heart: An Owner's Manual for the Tin Man"
Dan J. Lerner, MD
Research Fellow, Cardiovascular Research Institute