Baystate Begins Registration for Mini-Medical School Session
SPRINGFIELD — Sometimes, with shows like Grey’s Anatomy and House on the air — their respective characters routinely spitting out medical jargon — it seems like the world expects everyone to have gone to medical school.
Baystate Medical Center’s Mini-Medical School, which begins its fall session on Sept.10 and is now accepting registrations, gives local community members the opportunity to learn about medicine in a comfortable and friendly environment.
Many of the ‘students’ participate due to a general interest and later find that many of the things they learned over the semester are relevant to their own lives. The goal of the program is to help members of the public make more informed decisions about their health care while receiving insight on what it’s like to be a medical student — minus the tests, interviews, and admission formalities.
The Mini-Medical School program is an eight-part health-education series featuring a different aspect of medicine each week. Class topics this fall will include a session on “What is Medical School?,” as well as a variety of medical topics including vascular surgery, infectious diseases, surgery, cancer, emergency medicine, pathology, and total joint replacement.
Designed for an adult audience, 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 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Baystate Medical Center’s Chestnut Conference Center in Springfield. 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.
Tuition is $95 per person and $80 for Senior Class and Spirit of Women members.
Registration for the fall semester of Mini-Medical School is now in session by calling Baystate HealthLink at (413) 794-2255 or (800) 377-HEALTH.
