Members of the public with an interest in health, medicine and what the future of health research has in store were in attendance recently as the new season of Memorial University’s Mini-Med School began at the Faculty of Medicine in St. John’s.

The first of seven weeks of presentations, a recent session featured Faculty of Medicine professors Dr. Shakti Chandra and Dr. Bill Eaton.

Dr. Chandra started the evening with a presentation called Body Works. Using some of the collection of research and teaching specimens she received from sabbatical work in Germany, Dr. Chandra explained the inner workings and connectedness of the human body. Dr. Eaton followed this by talking about how the faculty teaches communication skills to medical students, thus enabling them to communicate more effectively with future patients. Following each presentation, participants asked questions related to the topics.

The next session of the Mini-Med School, scheduled for Wednesday, May 8, will feature sessions titled Canada’s Health-care System with Dr. Maria Mathews, and Superbug with infectious disease specialist Dr. Peter Daley. 

Other upcoming topics this spring include Eating Your Way to Health, Genetics, Myth Busting – What Can We Do to Be Healthy, and What Is It Like for the Doctor to Be the Patient? For the first time, participants can also view the entire season online through a live webcast. If participants are not able to attend one evening, they will have access to an archive of each presentation.

The Mini-Med School will run every Wednesday evening from 7-9:30 p.m. until June 12 in lecture theatre A in the Faculty of Medicine. Light refreshments are provided, along with access to an online archive of the talks following each event. Free parking is available in parking lot 9, off Clinch Avenue next to the Health Sciences Centre. The cost for the season is $150 for adults and $75 for seniors/students.

For further information, registration and the upcoming schedule, visit www.med.mun.ca/pdcs/mini-med/.