Become a Mini-Medic in Ten Weeks

Have you ever wanted to understand more about the human body or learn how treatments for some of the UK’s most diseases are changing?

Well the good news is that you don’t have to spend five years in Medical School to find out, as the University of Birmingham is looking for applicants to join the University’s Mini Medical School.

The ten week course, which starts on April 23rd, gives a fun and accessible overview of important health issues for anyone with an interest in the subject. 

Each two-hour session covers a major topic in medicine including cancer, cardiovascular disease, psychiatric disorders and communication between doctors and patients.

All the sessions are designed with a strong emphasis on practical demonstrations, so students will get to see the use of peak flow meters, chest x-ray analysis and measuring a person’s VO2 Max using exercise equipment.

Mini-Medical schools are already run successfully at a number of US universities, but Birmingham is the first UK University to run a course.

Professor David Fitzmaurice explains: “We are very pleased that some of the University’s most active researchers will be teaching sessions on the course.  We hope this will help give the students a flavour of some of the exciting projects that are happening at Birmingham. We want the Mini Medical School classes to be enjoyable and accessible to everyone, but also providing an accurate and informative view of medical issues today.”

There are also two sessions looking at ethical issues facing modern doctors and how doctors communicate their patients.

The final class will is a history lesson as students get a whistle-stop tour of the development of medicine from the beginning of time to the modern day.

Karen Doyle, the senior Cancer Research UK Nurse at the University’s Institute of Cancer Studies who is teaching on the cancer session comments: “As a cancer nurse spending time with patients and their families every day, I do think it is really important that people understand the kind of issues that affect their health.

Our session will tell people about how cancer develops and some of the lifestyle issues that influence our risks of getting the disease. All our work is supported by the general public, from clinical trials to charitable funding, which is why we also want to show how the publicly funded cancer research going on in Birmingham impacts lives.” 

To join the Mini-Medical School visit the website:www.medicine.bham.ac.uk/courses/mini-med.shtml

ENDS

For further media information, contact Ben Hill, Press Officer, University of Birmingham, Tel 0121 4145134, Mob 07789 921163.

 Professional images of Professor Karen Morrison teaching the ‘Good Brain, Bad Brain’ class are available on request