Baystate Begins Registration for Mini-Medical School
SPRINGFIELD — Baystate Medical Center’s Mini-Medical School, which begins its spring session on March 19, will give area residents a reason to come out of hibernation from the long, cold, snowy winter and join others interested in the expanding field of medicine.
Mini-Medical School program is an eight-week health education series featuring a different aspect of medicine each week. Classes this spring will include sessions on various medical topics, such as surgery, emergency medicine, anesthesiology, pathology, and several others. Many of the ‘students,’ who often range in age from 20 to 70, participate due to a general interest in medicine and later find that many of the things they learned over the semester are relevant to their own lives.
The goal of the program, offered in the hospital’s Chestnut Conference Center, is to help members of the public make more informed decisions about their healthcare while receiving insight on what it is like to be a medical student — minus the tests, interviews, and admission formalities. Each course is taught by medical-center faculty who explain the science of medicine without resorting to complex terms. Baystate Medical Center is the Western Campus of Tufts University School of Medicine and is the region’s only teaching hospital.
All classes are held Thursday nights starting at 6 p.m. and run until 8 or 9 p.m., depending on the night’s topic. No basic science knowledge is needed to participate. Each participant is required to attend a minimum of six out of eight classes in order to receive a certificate of completion. Among the topics and speakers slated for the spring semester are:
• March 19: “Hey, I Finally Got into Medical School!” with Dr. Michael Rosenblum, director, Internal Medicine Residency Program (includes a general tour of the medical center).
• March 26: “Surgery,” with Dr. Richard Wait, chair, Department of Surgery (includes a tour of the Baystate Simulation Center and the Goldberg Surgical Skills Lab).
• April 2: “Cardiac Surgery,” with Dr. John Rousou, chief, Cardiac Surgery.
• April 9: “Pathology,” with Dr. Richard Friedberg, chair, Department of Pathology (includes a tour of the lab).
• April 16: “Anesthesiology,” with Dr. Michael Bailin, chair, Department of Anesthesiology.
• April 23: “Psychiatry,” with Dr. Benjamin Liptzin, chair, Department of Psychiatry.
• April 30: “Stroke/Rehabilitation,” with Dr. Edward Feldmann, vice president and medical director, Neurosciences & Rehabilitation.
• May 7: “Emergency Medicine,” with Dr. Joseph Schmidt, vice chair and chief, Emergency Medicine (includes a graduation ceremony).
Tuition is $95 per person and $80 for Senior Class and Spirit of Women members. Register for the spring semester of Mini-Medical School by calling (800) 377-4325. For more information, visit www.baystatehealth.org/
